BBC News reports:&br;&br;"The best-selling writer JK Rowling has given her backing to a university project hoping to solve some of the mysteries of multiple sclerosis (MS). &br;&br;The MS Society Scotland (MSSS), of which Rowling is patron, has given a grant to the University of Aberdeen to create a special research group. &br;&br;The author of the Harry Potter novels, whose mother died 10 years after being diagnosed with MS, has donated an undisclosed amount to the project.&br;&br;About 10,500 people have MS in Scotland and access to treatment has been described as resembling a lottery. &br;&br;Earlier this year, Rowling was reported to be outraged at the shortage of MS nurses north of the border. &br;&br;The millionaire author and her husband, Neil Murray, who are expecting their first child, recently hosted a lavish fundraising ball for the MS Society Scotland at Stirling Castle, which raised 275,000. &br;&br;The ball was held on the 12th anniversary of the death of her mother, Anne, at the age of 45, in 1990, after suffering from MS. &br;&br;The society is putting up 500,000 to fund the new work in Aberdeen with the author donating a 'significant' amount."&br;&br;BBC.co.uk