BrainBlog

From the Guardian : NHS warned of 'neurology timebomb' Call for 'neurology tsar' as growing numbers are diagnosed with Parkinson's, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis The Guardian Tuesday 17 January 2012 Read full article

Investors ready to craft new biotechs out of Pfizer's discards February 9, 2011 — 8:47am ET By John Carroll FierceBiotech Read the article

From The Guardian : Cuts disastrous for brain science research, academics warn At least 30 neuroscience units to go under cuts proposed by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Ian Sample guardian.co.uk Thursday 10 February 2011 21.14 GMT [snip] "The closure of drug company research facilities and "draconian" funding cuts will have a disastrous impact on brain science in Britain, senior academics have warned. "At least 30 neuroscience research groups are expected to fold under cuts proposed by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), adding to jobs already lost after big pharmaceutical companies shut research programmes or moved them abroad." [snip] Read the full article

From earlier today: Listen to BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe Episode "Around 40,000 people in Wales suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. Adam Walton explores the latest research by Welsh scientists to combat the most common form of dementia."

An interesting post at MindHacks about their presentation for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Scientific Research in Learning and Education: Lords, Ladies, and Video Games The posting also provides a link to the presentation's PowerPoint file. Enjoy!

From the Brainstrust.org.uk website: link here Lizzie Hudson to appear on the 4th plinth for brainstrust! "Fantastic news just in that Lizzie Hudson from Ipswich has won the chance to appear on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square for an hour. Better still, she's devoting her time on the plinth to braintrust and our battle against brain cancer. Lizzie's appearance is part of sculptor Anthony Gormley's 'One & Other' project, wherein he is asking the people of the UK to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, a space normally reserved for statues of Kings and Generals. Gormley's idea is that successful applicants then become an image of themselves, and a representation of the whole of humanity. Every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, a different person will make the Plinth their own, including lucky Lizzie! Lizzie, 26, states "I wanted to do something useful with my time, and so have decided to raise money for t...

From the website of the Parkinson's Disease Society: PDS fundraiser to stand on the Fourth Plinth in London Tim Andrews, from Milford in Surrey, is taking part in the Antony Gormley project 'One & Other' on Saturday 15 August 2009, taking his place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London from 6pm to 7pm. Tim is taking part in the project as part of a new found determination to live life to the full since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2005, at the age of 54. Despite being afraid of heights, Tim intends to stand on the Fourth Plinth for the full hour. Tim will play tracks from the new album, The Liberty of Norton Folgate by one of his favourite bands, Madness, who have given their permission for it to be played. Tim has chosen the album because the lyrics recount various stories about the city of his birth, London, which he adores. Tim hopes that many will come along, show their support and perhaps dance with him. Tim says: "Being d...

On Saturday, the 15th, from 1100 to 1200 hrs, plinther Laura Hickman of the One&Other art project in Trafalgar Square will be promoting Chiari Malformation awareness. The Chiari Center Foundation Chiari Malformation information page here and here [credits: Photo courtesy Laura Hickman}

Yet another case from the UK: Woman dies of meningitis after swine flu diagnosis • Woman prescribed Tamiflu and paracetamol dies in hospital • Son urges doctors to heed symptoms of other illnesses Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk Wednesday 12 August 2009 17.02 BST A man whose mother died of meningitis days after being misdiagnosed with swine flu has called on doctors to pay more heed to other illnesses when treating patients. Jasvir Kaur Gill, 48, a mother of three from Leicester, began suffering from a sore throat and vomiting during the evening of Saturday 1 August. She was told to take Tamiflu after a telephone diagnosis, but 12 hours later she suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital. She died without regaining consciousness, four days later. An inquest, which opened today, heard how her death was caused by meningococcal septicaemia, or blood poisoning caused by meningitis. After the hearing, her son Sukhvinder Gill, 25, said: "We said to the doctors in the hospital, ever...

From The Guardian : Girl, two, dies after swine flu misdiagnosis Child with possible meningitis was 'failed by system' say parents Jo Adetunji guardian.co.uk Saturday 8 August 2009 01.08 BST [snippet] The parents of a two-year-old girl thought to have died from meningitis after they were told she was suffering from swine flu said yesterday that she had been "failed by the system". Georgia Keeling, from Norwich, died after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday. Her parents, Paul Sewell, 21, and Tasha Keeling, 22, said they contacted health services, including NHS Direct, the swine flu helpline and the emergency services, five times after their daughter first developed a temperature on Saturday. The couple said that by Tuesday she had also developed a rash, bruising and had been sick, but their concerns that she might have meningitis were ignored. They said that on two occasions they were told Georgia did not need to be admitted to hospital and after one 999 call, a param...

Edinburgh Neuroscience : "The mission of Edinburgh Neuroscience is to integrate basic and clinical research in order to drive the fundamental genetic, cellular, organ, systems and computational neuroscience underpinning pathogenesis into mechanistic understanding, future diagnostics and therapeutics of important diseases of the nervous system. We serve the interests of all members of the neuroscience community, encompassing and supported by the Research Centres and Institutes of the University of Edinburgh and its affiliates. Edinburgh Neuroscience is hosted by the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at The University of Edinburgh and currently consists of approximately 470 staff, 160 PhD students and 40 MSc students, working in 137 research laboratories." - from the website