The Wolfson Foundation awarded £20 million to UCL in 2011 to establish The Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre, creating the UK's only clinical research facility dedicated to experimental medicine in neurodegeneration. The grant is the largest single award ever made by the Foundation and one of the largest UCL has ever received.
The Centre brings together basic research, clinical research, and doctoral training focused on understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including dementia, motor neurone disease and Huntington’s disease.
The Centre is based at the heart of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, reflecting UCL’s focus on bringing together clinical and scientific excellence to accelerate the pace at which research is translated into effective treatments.
In December 2016, UCL’s excellence in neuroscience research
was recognised when it was announced that the new £250m UK Dementia
Research Institute will be led from UCL, which will be the ‘hub’ of the
Institute's research activities. Speaking at the event, Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of the
UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, thanked the Wolfson Foundation for their
generous investment that advanced UCL’s world-leading neuroscience
research.
“When I was first appointed Dean in 2011, I said that I hoped we would see a substantial rise in profile and productivity in neuroscience in the coming years. Helping to establish the remarkable Leonard Wolfson Centre and now the hub of the UK DRI goes beyond what I imagined we could have achieved in the space of six years. I am incredibly proud to lead a centre that bears the name of Leonard Wolfson and our team is constantly inspired by the confidence entrusted in us by the Wolfson Foundation to make lives better.” Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences
“The major support of the Wolfson Foundation has been transformational in maximising the capability of the Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square to work together to deliver translational neuroscience in neurodegenerative diseases”. Professor Mike Hanna, Director of the UCL Institute of Neurology.
The Centre is named after Leonard Wolfson who created the
Wolfson Foundation with his parents, and the tour included a viewing of
the bust commemorating him in Queen Square.