A CHARITY founded in honour of Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir has awarded over £800,000 to two motor neurone (MND) disease studies in Dundee. These proteins can become overactive in MND patients, causing motor neurons to destroy themselves. The three-year project will test novel drugs targeting the JNK pathway to assess their ability to keep motor neurons alive, potentially slowing the disease’s progression. Dr Henstridge said: “The ultimate goal is to develop a new way of treating MND by keeping vulnerable motor neurons alive, by switching off their self-destruct signal. There are currently around 400 people living with MND in Scotland, with approximately 200 new diagnoses each year.