New MS labs officially opened at Frenchay

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New MS labs officially opened at Frenchay

Best-selling author Jill Mansell will officially open new state-of-the-art Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Laboratories at Frenchay Hospital this Wednesday [December 3] at 12 noon.

The new facilities, at the Burden Neurological Institute, have been refurbished and reequipped thanks to a fundraising appeal launched in 2007.

The appeal, which has raised £250,000, has also seen the transformation of old laboratories at Frenchay into a purpose-built patient centre for people with multiple sclerosis and their carers. The final touches to this building are currently underway with an officially opening soon.

The Burden laboratories have been up-and-running for a few months and are being used by staff for research into multiple sclerosis. An ongoing research programme into the use of stem cell treatments for MS sufferers and other therapies is now being accelerated through the new centre.

Jill Mansell, whose books include Thinking of You, Kiss and Good at Games, was an EEG technician at the Burden when it was based at Stoke Park Hospital (now Blackberry Hill). She left in 1995 to pursue her successful literary career.

Neil Scolding, Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Bristol and the North Bristol NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jill back to the Burden to officially open our new laboratories which I guess will be very different to ones she worked in back at Stoke Park.

“This really is a fantastic opportunity and I am grateful to all the individuals and organisations who have donated to our appeal. We are particularly looking forward to the new year and the opening of the patient centre which, combined with these new laboratories, will make the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust one of the leading forces in the research and treatment of multiple sclerosis.”

A significant part of the money raised has been used to purchase equipment that can be easily transferred to the new hospital at Southmead when it opens in 2013.
Press release issued 1 December 2008