I’m taking part in The Big Walk 2017, a walking challenge on 30 June-1 July – a 50-mile circular walk starting and ending at the University and going out into the Peak District. We’ll have up to 24 hours to complete as much of the route as we can.  I'm a keen walker and I love the Peak District - but I've never walked 50 miles in one push before, and I’m determined to try my best to complete it.  More information about The Big Walk 2017 can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/big-walk

We are raising funds towards the University’s £2 million fundraising campaign for the Sheffield Scanner - a MRI-PET scanner facility.  We need this for our medical research - especially for research into neurodegenerative diseases like Motor Neurone Disease (aka ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The Sheffield Scanner will combine in a single instrument magnetic resonance imaging with positron emission tomography.   MRI can image both the structure and function of the brain, while PET tracks the location of individual, labelled molecules. Combining the two techniques allows scientists to put together information about changes in the physiology and function of the living brain with details of what the molecules are doing.

Clinical neuroscience at Sheffield will particularly benefit from the Sheffield Scanner.  The Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITRAN) was founded and is led by an inspirational clinician and scientist, Professor Dame Pam Shaw.  Having been privileged to work with Pam, I know how much she is driven by a personal passion and commitment to try and improve the situation of sufferers of that most cruel disease, Motor Neurone Disease.  She has built SITRAN into a great unit which brings together fundamental research in cell biology and bioinformatics with clinical research and practise, always with a focus on patients.  The Sheffield Scanner will be crucial to taking this important work further.

Further information about the Sheffield Scanner can be found at www.sheffield.ac.uk/sheffieldscanner

So please donate to this fantastic cause which will have a terrific impact for everyone in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and beyond.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE BIG WALK 2017 AND
THE SHEFFIELD SCANNER CAMPAIGN!

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