The UK Multiple Sclerosis Tissue Bank
Welcome Introduction How to register as a tissue donor Raising awareness of all those affected by MS Donation of Tissue Requesting tissue for research on multiple sclerosis Promoting the Tissue Bank in the research community The Bank Statement Issue One Issue Two Issue Three Articles MS Matters Insight - Banking on the future MS Frontiers - A very special bank MS Frontiers - Making a very special contribution Links: Department of Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Department of Neuropathology Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies E-mail: ukmstissuebank@imperial.ac.uk	Fundamental to improving our understanding of multiple sclerosis There are approximately 85 000 people with multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom. The varied symptoms experienced by all these people result from damage taking place within their brain and spinal cord. Understanding the exact nature of this damage is essential if we are to better treat the condition. Vital information about how the brain and spinal cord are damaged in multiple sclerosis can be obtained by using a multitude of experimental approaches to study the affected tissue from people with MS and 'control' tissue from people without the disease. The donation of tissue for research is therefore fundamental to furthering our understanding of the causes of multiple sclerosis and to developing more effective treatments for the disease. . What is the role of the Tissue Bank? The UK Multiple Sclerosis Tissue Bank procures brain, spinal cord and other tissues bequeathed by donors and makes them available to scientists investigating the cause and treatment of multiple sclerosis. The Tissue Bank achieves this aim by addressing the following objectives: 1) Increasing the awareness of the importance of human tissue to research amongst the MS and scientific communities. 2) Being sensitive to the needs of the tissue donor and responsive to the requirements of scientists when collecting and processing donated tissue. 3) Making available high quality, well-documented samples of tissue to research scientists working to better understand MS. The Tissue Bank Team . How to register as a tissue donor Requesting tissue for research into Multiple Sclerosis
	The UK Multiple Sclerosis Tissue Bank Division of Neuroscience and Mental Health Imperial College London Hammersmith Campus Du Cane Road London W12 0NN Tel: 020 7594 9734 Fax: 020 7594 9735 E-mail: ukmstissuebank@imperial.ac.uk
The UK Multiple Sclerosis Tissue Bank is funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, registered charity 207495.