A Tribute to Euan MacDonald Symposium: 8-9 Oct 2025
Oct 2025: On 8th and 9th October, 300 researchers, friends and supporters of the Euan MacDonald Centre gathered in Edinburgh to celebrate the legacy of our founder, the late Euan MacDonald MBE.
The Euan MacDonald Centre joined forces with Euan's other initiatives, Euan's Guide and SpeakUnique, to host a 1.5-day symposium at the University of Edinburgh's John McIntyre Centre, incorporating two academic sessions about MND research, and a public session to showcase and celebrate Euan's achievements.
MND research sessions
We were joined by 200 MND researchers from across Scotland and from major MND research centres in the UK for two mornings of exceptional MND research presentations, showcasing the breadth of work in the Euan MacDonald Centre and beyond. The focus was very much on working with the MND community to ask the right questions, and to continually relate discovery science to how findings can be applied to developing new therapies or improving quality of life.
It was an honour to welcome back several former members of the Euan MacDonald Centre who had started their careers as PhD students or postdocs with us, and have now gone on to lead their own groups elsewhere in the UK.
Public session
During the afternoon, the hall was buzzing as it was filled to capacity. Our additional guests comprised the Euan's Guide team as well as people living with MND and their families, our generous donors and fundraisers, representatives of charities and funding organisations and people who were simply interested in finding out more.
We enjoyed fantastic presentations from Euan's Guide, the disabled access charity founded by Euan with his sister Kiki, and SpeakUnique, digital speech technology spinout company. Three early-career researchers gave engaging 'snapshots' of their work, and a public lecture about MND research brought the proceedings to a close with a genuine sense of hope.
All our guests were then invited to a reception, to mingle with researchers, and view information stands and academic posters.
A lasting legacy
We were delighted that the event ended with a spontaneous standing ovation for the MacDonald family.
The event was, we hope, a fitting tribute to Euan who did so much to inspire and bring people together.
Related links
Support the work of the Euan MacDonald Centre
Euan's Guide (external website)
SpeakUnique (external website)
Venue: John McIntyre Centre (University of Edinburgh Conferences & Events website)