The Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Little France recently welcomed a news crew from CNN International to highlight a world‑leading partnership between the neurosurgery team and researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
Spearheaded by neurosurgeon Paul Brennan and Race Against Dementia Fellow Dr Claire Durrant, the programme involves keeping living human brain tissue – removed during routine neurosurgery – alive for study in the laboratory.
This pioneering research has enabled scientists to show, for the first time, how a toxic form of a protein linked to Alzheimer’s can attach to and damage the connections between brain cells.
The team hopes the discovery will help identify medications with the greatest potential to prevent the loss of synapses—the vital connections that allow messages to flow between brain cells and support healthy brain function.
Paul Brennan said: “During neurosurgery, there is always a small amount of healthy brain tissue that must be removed in order to reach, for example, a tumour and typically that tissue would be thrown away. Our partnership with Claire and her team means we can package up that healthy, living tissue and send it to the lab for testing.
“Even the tiniest piece “contains thousands of cells, and we can learn a great deal from it. Research of this type has been underway for some time, but this collaboration allows us to study living human brain tissue in a way that hasn’t routinely been possible before.”
The tissue is collected with the patient’s consent, in a process similar to organ donation. Aidan McAllister (28) chose to donate his healthy brain tissue during an operation to remove a tumour. He said: “My grandad passed away from Alzheimer’s a few years ago. We were really close – he lived just across the road and we saw each other every day. His dementia became so severe that he didn’t know who he was or who we were.
“It’s a really brutal disease. When Paul asked if I’d consider donating some of my brain tissue during surgery, I thought if it could help people like my grandad, then I wanted to do it.”
Dr Claire Durrant said: “We believe this research could accelerate the journey from lab findings to patient treatments, bringing us one step closer to a world free from the heartbreak of dementia.
“It was fantastic to be able to show the CNN team what we do and to highlight the vital, world-leading research taking place in Edinburgh.”
The Child Poverty Action Group (UK) – CPAG are carrying out research to understand the impact of the two child policy on children and family life prior to abolition of the policy in April.
This is so they can conduct further comparative research later in the year on the impact of getting rid of the policy.
It would really help them if you can spare a few minutes to answer some questions about your experience of the two child limit.
They want to hear from parents who are not receiving tax credits or universal credit for a child born after April 6 2017.
The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
No information will be used that could identify anyone involved.
Researchers say previously unidentified feature of myelin couldpave the way to new treatment options
Researchers in Edinburgh have discovered that myelin, the protective coating surrounding nerves, which is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), could potentially repair itself instead of being lost, thanks to a newly discovered biological response.
This might offer a significant new opportunity to help slow, stop or even prevent degeneration in MS and other conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
In MS, the immune system attacks myelin in the brain and spinal cord and disrupts messages being sent around the body. This impacts how people move, think and feel. While myelin loss is a hallmark of a range of conditions, there are still no treatments that can replace damaged or lost myelin.
Until now, research has been focused on regenerating new myelin after it has already been lost. But a team from the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Myelin Research at the University of Edinburgh, led by Professor David Lyons and supported by international collaborators, has shown that when myelin is first damaged it undergoes a dynamic swelling phase.
This can, in principle, be followed by repair, rather than myelin loss. This potentially offers a window of opportunity to intervene before the myelin completely breaks down.
Historically, although this myelin swelling had been observed, it had not been investigated in detail, as researchers thought that it might be an artefact of the way brain tissue is preserved in the lab. But this new study took advantage of advanced technology to observe live zebrafish and tissue from mice and humans who lived with MS to follow what happened to damaged myelin over time.
The team showed that this swelling is in fact a natural process in the body that can be followed by repair of the damaged myelin, and thus one that could be a critical step in the body’s fight to prevent complete myelin loss.
This suggests that the nervous system has a powerful – and until now unrecognised – ability to withstand early myelin damage.
Professor David Lyons, Co-lead of the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research, at the University of Edinburgh, says:“These findings suggest that intervening during this early swelling phase could protect myelin before it is lost, offering us the opportunity to explore potential new treatment routes that could complement current treatments.
“For decades, scientists have focused on remyelination, the process of rebuilding myelin once it is already lost. This continues to hold promise. But now that we have this new avenue of exploration, it could be the start of something else very special.”
Over 150,000 people in the UK live with MS, with 135 diagnosed each week. More than 17,000 people with MS live in Scotland. The MS Society is the largest charitable funder of MS research in the UK. Its research has helped drive forward treatment options and dramatically improved public understanding of the condition.
The University of Edinburgh is home to one of Europe’s largest groupings of neuroscience researchers investigating the nervous system in health and disease. This includes one of two MS Society-funded Centres of Excellence in MS research.
Work at the Edinburgh Centre for MS Research, co-led by Professor Lyons and Professor Anna Williams, spans investigation of fundamental biological processes relevant to MS, drug discovery to identify treatments for MS, through clinical research and supporting clinical trials in people with disease.
Dr Emma Gray, Director of Research at the MS Society, says:“We know that the body has the ability to regenerate new myelin after it’s lost. But this study shows that existing myelin can sometimes self-heal before it’s fully lost, a process we hadn’t identified before.
“It doesn’t replace current strategies, but it adds another potential way to protect myelin early on. MS can be debilitating, exhausting and unpredictable and for tens of thousands of people there are still no treatments that work for them.
“There’s still a lot to learn, but discoveries like this are essential to help people with MS in the future.”
~ Warning not to ignore subtle stroke signs just because they are uncommon ~
A stroke survivor is warning others to watch out for unusual symptoms after joining a study funded by the British Heart Foundation.
Gordon Robb had a stroke involving a bleed in his brain, but his only symptom was finding that written words suddenly looked as if they were in a foreign language.
The 63-year-old is now taking the drug clopidogrel, as part of a clinical trial run by researchers at the University of Edinburgh. This study will examine if clopidogrel or aspirin, which are ‘antiplatelet’ drugs that reduce the risk of blood clotting, can prevent future strokes, heart attacks and premature deaths in people who have had a haemorrhagic stroke – a stroke caused by a bleed in the brain.
Gordon only discovered his stroke had happened after his cousin, whose husband had died from a stroke a few weeks earlier, insisted he go to hospital.
Having first thought his sudden inability to read was caused by tiredness, he now describes himself as an ‘extremely lucky man’. He had none of the more commonly known symptoms of a stroke, such as problems with his face, arm, speech, eyes or balance.
Difficulty recognising written words on its own, without any other symptoms, affects fewer than one per cent of people at the time of their stroke, say researchers.
A few months on, Gordon’s symptoms are improving, although it now takes him half an hour to read a chapter instead of his previous 10 minutes, and more recently he has noticed he occasionally can’t find the right word during a conversation.
Gordon said: “I am incredibly lucky, and quite honestly felt like a fraud in the stroke ward because I was no different to how I am normally, except that I suddenly could not read words.
“A group of student doctors in neurology who were brought to see me even said they would have struggled to diagnose that I had had a stroke.
“I knew some of the classic signs of a stroke like facial weakness, being unable to raise my arms or speech issues, but had none of these.
“It just shows the importance of paying attention to unusual symptoms, even if they aren’t ones you have heard of before. If I hadn’t gone to the hospital, and quickly received treatment, I could have been walking around with a ticking time-bomb in my head.”
The stroke survivor, from Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, had only been to hospital once in his life previously. A keen cyclist and runner, who had climbed to base camp at Mount Everest two years ago, he felt in perfect health.
So when, on September 27 last year, he checked his emails and could not read them, he put it down to tiredness.
Gordon, the former vice-president of a biotech company, said: “I was in the garden, went in to have a cup of tea, listen to some music and check my emails on my phone – and it was like they were in a foreign language.
“I could see them clearly, and see who they were from, but the words meant nothing to me.
“I just assumed I was tired because I had been up late the night before. When friends were then messaging me about the Ryder Cup that evening and I couldn’t see the messages, I just gave myself an early night.”
The following evening, when he was unable to read the instructions on a cash machine to withdraw money, he resolved to go to see his GP the next day.
However, when he told his cousin – whose husband had died from a sudden stroke just three weeks earlier – she drove straight to his house and insisted on taking him to A&E. There, doctors told him he had had a haemorrhagic stroke.
Approximately 15 per cent of strokes are haemorrhagic. The majority of strokes are ischaemic strokes, caused by a blocked artery.
While in hospital, Gordon signed up to a study being led by Professor Rustam Al-Shahi Salman at the University of Edinburgh, which is called ASPIRING (Antiplatelet Secondary Prevention International Randomised study after INtracerebral haemorrhaGe).
The international study is recruiting people who have had a stroke due to bleeding in the brain, also known as a haemorrhagic stroke. Study participants in the UK will be given ‘antiplatelet’ medicines like clopidogrel or aspirin, which reduce the chances of a stroke or heart attack by preventing cells in the bloodstream, called platelets, from sticking together and forming a blood clot.
Antiplatelet medicines are not routinely prescribed for people who have had a haemorrhagic stroke, because of safety concerns that they may increase the risk of bleeding. But a small study called RESTART, led by the University of Edinburgh and also funded by the British Heart Foundation, found aspirin and clopidogrel are safe after a haemorrhagic stroke.
In this new larger study, researchers in the UK now aim to understand if clopidogrel or aspirin can reduce the likelihood of having future strokes, heart attacks and other clotting and bleeding problems in people who have survived a haemorrhagic stroke.
Major clotting or bleeding problems occur in around one in 10 haemorrhagic stroke survivors every year.
Professor Salman said: “It has been hard to overcome the instinctive fear that if people have had a haemorrhagic stroke, taking aspirin or a drug like it might cause more bleeding. So we were very relieved when our research showed such drugs to be safe after a haemorrhagic stroke.
“The ASPIRING study will gather further evidence to establish if aspirin and clopidogrel can help lower the risk of future strokes and heart attacks, and potentially save the lives of people like Gordon who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.
“I believe there is a huge amount more to be done to help these people, whose lives have been turned upside down and who may be concerned about the future.”
Gordon is one of more than 4,000 people worldwide set to join the study, which is also funded by the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Research Foundation – Flanders and the Medical Research Future Fund in Australia.
The study was endorsed by the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) multinational clinical trials initiative.
Gordon said: “Being involved in this trial provides some reassurance, that this drug may reduce my risk of another stroke.
“But it is also great to know that being involved could help improve treatment for people like me in the future, and relieve the pressure on the health system.
“I feel extremely lucky that I did not have more long-term effects from my stroke, and that I have had the chance to try to help improve treatments.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, the British Heart Foundation’s clinical director, said: “Facial weakness, arm or leg weakness and speech problems are well-known signs you or your loved one may be having a stroke, but there are some lesser-known symptoms like being unable to recognise the written word.
“If you have a symptom that you feel is not right, however strange or unusual, it is really important to seek help. Every minute matters if you may be having a stroke or other medical emergency.
“We know stroke survivors often fear having another stroke and how disabling this could be. That is why the BHF is funding clinical trials like ASPIRING, which will test whether prescribing antiplatelet drugs could protect more people.”
The ASPIRING study is recruiting people from England, Wales and Scotland who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.
Volunteers can check their eligibility, depending on the hospital where they received treatment, and express interest by visiting www.ASPIRING.ed.ac.uk
A new, global study led by Queen’s University Belfast reveals that tropical amphibians have evolved resistance to the most lethal wildlife pathogen recorded to date.
Chytridiomycosis is a devastating infectious disease, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, commonly associated with the alarming decline of amphibians worldwide.
These accelerating declines overtake the loss of most organisms on Earth, and this fungal pandemic disease, also referred to as a panzootic, is regarded as a predominant driver behind the massive global population declines and extinctions of frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders.
Published in the world-leading journal, Global Change Biology, the research compares previous data to more recent figures to examine the amphibian species infection status in tropical regions as well as in colder climates.
Dr Daniel Pincheira-Donoso from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s, the principal investigator on the project, said: “The idea that this infectious disease has been a dominant cause of the rapid loss of amphibian biodiversity has become a form of paradigm amongst the scientific community to produce volumes of data from thousands of species on a global scale.
“This collective effort created an opportunity for us to gather a comprehensive database spanning the global diversity of amphibian species, including the threatened and non-threatened, and all the thousands of species in which the presence of the disease has been tested.
“We now know that the role of this infectious disease in the extinction of amphibians is not exactly as we thought, with tropical species getting over the panzootic, while these panzootic effects are still ongoing in amphibians from colder climates.”
Dr Pincheira-Donoso adds: “An explanation is that the seasonality of colder climates added to the low density of amphibians in these regions may have acted as ‘natural lockdowns’ and ‘social distance’ effects that have made the impact of the pandemic slower, slowing down the evolution of their resistance.”
Many locations throughout the world have already been successfully invaded by one or more Bd variants, and these findings suggest that the most susceptible species have either already gone extinct or have undergone past declines and developed some form of tolerance to the disease.
This means there is the potential that these amphibian populations may coexist with Bd, and that a once declining species may have stabilised in numbers or even be in recovery.
This research indicates that there are region-specific and time-specific patterns of extinctions, with tropical amphibian species no longer experiencing declines of the same intensity and non-tropical amphibians continuing to decline further.
Luke Goodyear, a PhD Researcher from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s who led the research, commented: “This new research is very exciting as it shows two different ways this disease has affected amphibians.
“We see early signs of possible stabilisation in environments around the equator, which were initially hit very hard by the disease. Although many species are still at risk in these regions, it seems that the peak of devastation might be behind us.
“Then in colder climates, like Europe, we see the opposite. This is the first research to show the increasing impact on these amphibian species at this scale. Hopefully this can speed up conservation action while there is still time to prevent the mass declines we saw in tropical climates.”
The Scottish Government will partner with the British Council to undertake a scoping exercise exploring the establishment of a dedicated Export Service for Scotland’s arts and culture sectors.
The project, running from December 2025 to May 2026, will examine the challenges and opportunities facing Scottish cultural organisations and artists in accessing international markets, identify gaps in current support, and develop recommendations for a new service to boost cultural exports.
This exercise is part of the Scottish Government’s International Culture Strategy action plan and follows increased calls from across Scotland’s cultural sectors for enhanced support in navigating post-Covid-19 and post-Brexit challenges.
The music sector has been active with the STUC, Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Committee, and the Scottish Music Industry Association all calling for dedicated export support.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “As part of our International Culture Strategy, we continue to explore how best to support cultural export and exchange and help our culture and creative sectors to realise their potential on the international stage.
“British Council Scotland works across all art forms but doesn’t represent any specific sector, ensuring they give us the independent, evidence-based recommendations we need. They’ll also bring valuable international perspective by examining how other countries support cultural export, helping us learn from best practice models around the world.”
Norah Campbell, Head of Arts at British Council Scotland, added:“Supporting the international ambitions of the Scottish arts sector is at the heart of the British Council’s work.
“Cultural export is complex, sophisticated, and different art forms have very different needs. Some sectors for example require access to international galleries and major markets for showcasing opportunities that springboard international work, while others involve design and product export.
“This scoping exercise will engage with the Scottish cultural sector to understand these varied challenges and needs. We’re keen to hear from artists, organisations and practitioners across all disciplines. This input will be crucial in shaping recommendations that truly reflect what the sector needs to succeed internationally.”
The research will actively engage with Scotland’s cultural sectors through surveys, consultation groups, and in-depth interviews beginning in early 2026 and artists, agents, promoters, managers, and organisations across all art forms will have opportunities to share their experiences and expertise to help inform the recommendations.
Key art sector development organisations and international initiatives including Craft Scotland, Publishing Scotland, Made in Scotland, Showcase Scotland, the Scottish Music Industry Association will be consulted, alongside interviews with established cultural export services in other countries.
The study will deliver:
Analysis of export support needs across Scotland’s culture and creative sectors, mapping existing initiatives and identifying which sub-sectors could benefit most
Comparative analysis of cultural export support models from other countries
Recommendations on service functions and how they would relate to existing Scottish and UK organisations
Delivery model options appraisal
Cost estimates for establishing a pilot and/or full service
The British Council will work with specialist researchers to roll out surveys, analyse data, and draw international comparisons. The findings from the research and report will help inform the Scottish Government’s decisions on future support for cultural export and exchange.
A final report will be shared in the summer of 2026.
~ A coronary angiogram does not detect microvascular angina, which is particularly common in women, so researchers say more tests are needed ~
Half of people investigated for suspected angina and given the all-clear may be missing out on the correct diagnosis, based on a study funded by the British Heart Foundation, published in the journal Nature Medicine, and presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans.
The study involved 250 British people referred for a coronary angiogram after experiencing chest pain. Based on their scan results, these people did not have angina – the medical term for pain or tightness within the chest caused by reduced blood flow to the heart.
However, when researchers gave these people an extra MRI scan, they found 51 per cent of people given the all-clear for angina actually had a form of it called microvascular angina. This is triggered by tiny blood vessels which can’t be seen using a standard coronary angiogram – where a thin tube is inserted into the wrist and up to the coronary arteries and an X-ray taken. The angiogram can only detect angina caused by blockages in the large coronary arteries.
Researchers say blood flow scans should be used to follow up angiograms for every patient with unexplained chest pain, but that many regions of the UK do not currently offer this.
Professor Colin Berry, senior author of the study from the University of Glasgow, said: “Further tests like the scan we used could help to reveal thousands more people with microvascular angina in the UK every year. Microvascular angina is currently particularly under-diagnosed in women.
“We need these extra test results because people whose angiogram results suggest their chest pain is not heart-related can be sent home without medication, on the assumption that their symptoms are due to things like indigestion, anxiety or arthritis.
“It is not uncommon for these people to then have to return to their GP multiple times, with continuing symptoms like chest pain and breathlessness.”
Angina is a symptom of chest pain which can be caused by blockages or narrowing in the large coronary arteries which supply most blood to the heart. Microvascular angina used to be known as ‘cardiac syndrome X’ because it greatly confused doctors seeing patients with angina-like chest pains who didn’t have the expected narrowings or blockages in their coronary arteries.
Now the name, coined in the 1970s, is no longer used because experts understand that the pain is caused by tiny arteries within the heart muscle – less than half a millimetre across – which play a crucial role in regulating blood supply to the heart. Women are more likely to have the condition than men, particularly around and after the time of menopause.
Among the 250 people studied, all but six were judged to have chest pain that wasn’t heart-related based on their angiogram results. But the MRI scan found 123 of these people had microvascular angina – a diagnosis which is very clearly heart-related.
The scan detects microvascular angina, which reduces blood flow to the heart, by showing inadequate blood supply after people are given a drug called adenosine, which mimics the demands of physical activity on the body.
In the study, half of the 250 people were offered altered treatment based on their MRI scan result, if needed. Such treatment could include calcium channel blockers, which relieve angina and lower blood pressure, and aspirin and statins, which reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.
This group were examined to see how receiving a new diagnosis, following further tests after a coronary angiogram, might change people’s lives.
A better quality of life
Researchers found quality of life was better for people whose treatment was changed based on their scan, compared to those whose treatment was not changed following their scan. This group also saw a bigger reduction in the frequency of their chest pain – from weekly to monthly on average. They had a larger reduction in their difficulty doing everyday activities, based on a questionnaire.
A second questionnaire looked at people’s mobility, pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression and difficulties washing, dressing and performing normal daily activities. This also showed a greater improvement for people whose treatment changed based on their MRI scan.
There is some evidence that having microvascular angina may increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, although this wasn’t seen in the 12-month period people were followed up in the study.
People whose treatment was changed based on their MRI scan were found to have lower blood pressure, which may have been brought down by medications they were prescribed. They also had a lower weight, which researchers believe may have been a result of reduced chest pain making it easier to be active.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director at the British Heart Foundation and consultant cardiologist, said:“Coronary microvascular dysfunction, which is seen more commonly in women, is real. It can have a serious impact on people’s everyday lives, as they struggle with chest pain and breathlessness, and is often misunderstood.
“Unfortunately, many people go undiagnosed, are misdiagnosed, or are only diagnosed after years of delay, because the diagnosis of inadequate blood supply in tiny coronary blood vessels slips through the net.
“This important study shows that it doesn’t have to be this way – having heart MRI tests improved chest pain diagnosis, which in turn led to changes in treatment and better health.”
There were 127 people diagnosed with microvascular angina, including 123 whose angiogram had wrongly suggested their pain was not heart-related. The angiogram diagnosis that their chest pain was not heart-related appeared correct for 155 people.
The MRI scans used in the study revealed two people judged not to have heart-related chest pain by an angiogram, who in fact had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a genetic condition which can cause a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm. Another two people had myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle which most people recover from following treatment.
There are around 250,000 coronary angiograms performed across the UK every year. The MRI scans in this study were done at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in Clydebank, within the west of Scotland.
These scans judged blood flow in the blood vessels of the heart, and included an algorithm assessing the difference in flow between the inner and outer area of the heart, which is not routinely available on the NHS. However researchers say conventional MRI scans would have a largely similar performance.
On how the study results should change NHS practice, Professor Berry added: “An angiogram alone is not enough for most people with suspected angina, but in most regions of the UK this is all that is performed.
“People should be offered an additional test to look at blood flow. That does not need to be an MRI scan like ours, as there are several alternative tests which might be helpful. These tests are needed because debilitating chest pain significantly reduces people’s physical and mental wellbeing, and their ability to go about their everyday lives.”
The study was also supported by the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland.
Despite progressive legislation guaranteeing free access to menstrual products in Scotland, research reveals that reusable period products remain significantly underused, with only 3% of people in Scotland who menstruate relying on them exclusively.
Dominique Haig, a master’s student at Queen Margaret University (QMU), has explored why uptake of reusable menstrual products remains low, despite the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 encouraging their distribution.
The findings point to a complex web of barriers – institutional, educational, and infrastructural – that prevent organisations fully understanding and complying with the Act’s goals around equity, sustainability, and choice.
Dominique, a student in QMU’s Institute of Global Health and Development explained: “We found that while reusable products are technically available across colleges, universities and public organisations, they’re often out of sight – sometimes hidden behind reception desks or restricted to student unions.
“This type of gatekeeping, combined with poor signposting and limited education, means many students, who may be particularly vulnerable to period poverty, don’t even know they have the option of accessing the free sanitary products.”
The research has identified that students most likely to benefit from reusable products – such as low-income, disabled, and trans/non-binary individuals – face disproportionate barriers. These include:
inconsistent menstrual education and limited teacher training, leaving students unaware of their entitlements and product options.
parental influence, which can shape attitudes toward menstruation and product choices, especially when stigma or misinformation has shaped communication.
inadequate washing facilities and lack of private spaces, which make using reusables impractical in many institutions.
“One teacher told us that students often don’t receive menstrual education until halfway through the school year,” Dominique explained. “By then, their understanding is shaped mostly by what their parents have told them.”
In addition, student input rarely shaped procurement practices which resulted in the purchase of reusable produced that didn’t meet the needs of students in terms of quality and aesthetic preferences – resulting in wasted budgets and a continual reliance on single use sanitary wear.
“We spoke to one university procurement officer who confirmed that students had to go to a specific location to collect reusable products,” Dominique added.
“That alone can be a deterrent, especially if the space isn’t welcoming or inclusive.”
Dominique Haig concluded: “The availability of free sanitary wear across Scotland has been an excellent way of improving equality for women across the country.
“However, without targeted interventions, Scotland risks entrenching its dependence on single-use menstrual products, which ultimately undermines the environmental and social equity goals of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021.
“We are therefore calling for improved menstrual education and teacher training; inclusive procurement processes that reflect student preferences; better infrastructure to support reusable product use; and clearer signposting and more accessible distribution methods.
“This will help protect the dignity of everyone who menstruates and the sustainability of service provision, ensuring every student has real choices.”
We’ll guide you through the basics and show you how to navigate Ancestry and British Newspaper Archive, two brilliant resources for family history and both free to use in all Edinburgh Libraries.
The session ends with a short tour of the physical genealogical resources held in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection.
The next session is on Thursday 30 October at 2pm.
£2.95 million awarded to harness academic ideas for commercial use
An anti-cancer drug that researchers believe may be up to 500 times more effective than current treatments is among 18 projects receiving pilot funding to develop innovative ideas into commercial success.
The £2.95 million Proof of Concept Fund will support the commercialisation of ground-breaking research across ten Scottish universities including the project targeting blood and solid cancers at the University of Edinburgh. The £125,000 awarded to the project will fund further studies, ensuring it meets industry standards.
The pilot Proof of Concept Fund is awarded to projects that address significant global challenges across a range of sectors including Life Sciences, Quantum, Photonics, Aerospace, AI and Fintech. Projects include:
A laser system which quickly detects aircraft engine faults
A non-invasive, radiation-free ultrasound to detect breast cancer
A more sustainable and healthier alternative to palm oil
Funding will enable researchers to demonstrate the feasibility of projects through developing prototypes, market exploration and achieving regulatory approvals to derisk new technologies and attract investment. The projects have significant and largely untapped economic opportunities, with potential wide-ranging societal benefits.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes saw demonstrations from three of the successful projects receiving funding during a visit to the University of Edinburgh Institute for Genetics and Cancer.
Ms Forbes said: “Our first National Innovation Week was a declaration of intent by the Scottish Government. Innovation must be our national endeavour and we are supporting it across all areas of society.
“Scotland’s world-class universities have the ideas and inventions to help tackle global problems and improve lives. This new Proof of Concept Fund and will help bridge the gap between theory and practice, translating research into real-world impact which in turn drives Scotland’s economic transformation.
“The successful projects that we are supporting are quite simply inspiring. They have the potential to be lifesaving and life changing.”
Professor David Argyle, Vice-Principal and Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The transition from ground-breaking discovery to real-world application is one of the most critical stages in research.
“This funding is a welcome endorsement of the exceptional innovation underway across Scotland, supporting academics to achieve commercial success.
“At Edinburgh, the investment in pioneering cancer treatments, lab-grown tissue models and improved detection of aircraft faults shows how this work can hugely benefit people’s lives while also strengthening the economy.”
