J.K. Rowling Helps Out MS Cause

  December 4, 2002 at 11:50 AM ET
      iharrypotter.net
 

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).

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.

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.

About 10,500 people have MS in Scotland and access to treatment has been described as resembling a lottery.

Earlier this year, Rowling was reported to be outraged at the shortage of MS nurses north of the border.

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.

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.

The society is putting up £500,000 to fund the new work in Aberdeen with the author donating a "significant" amount.

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