A message from Professor Siddharthan Chandran, Director of the Euan MacDonald Centre

Euan was an extraordinary man who through his vision, advocacy and leadership brought hope and helped transform the lives of countless people living with MND and other disabilities. Euan and his father Donald established, through a philanthropic gift in 2007, the Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research at the University of Edinburgh. As a direct result of this far-sighted investment, Scotland is now a leading global player in MND research from discovery science to clinical trials. This includes the landmark MND-SMART trial, the largest-ever drugs trial for MND in the UK.

Inspired by one of Euan’s own ideas, the Centre established SpeakUnique, a university spinout that uses state of the art speech technology to allow people to retain their identity and communicate in a voice that sounds like their own, when natural speech is not possible. Euan was very much a free spirit and again based on his experiences of living with disability, founded Euan’s Guide to empower others by providing information and choices enabling accessibility and freedom whilst out and about. The common thread that runs through these three remarkable initiatives are his courage, selflessness, ability to galvanise and inspire people to come together, to work with one another to make a difference. Euan was a special man, who will be deeply missed but whose legacy will only grow through all those he touched.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Siddharthan Chandran I MacDonald Professor of Neurology
Director Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research

Find out more about the work and impact of the Euan MacDonald Centre [2-page PDF]

If you would like to make a donation towards our research in Euan's name, please visit our Donate page.