Following the sad death of our chairman, Les Rhoades, in March last year, The Humane Research Trust (THRT) recently had the pleasure of welcoming his widow Pauline and sons to our office in Bramhall to present a research studentship awarded in his memory.

Twenty-six high quality applications were received from universities throughout the UK. The winner of the award is Dr Eunchai Kang from Aberdeen University. The prize worth £120,000 will be used by Eunchai and a PhD student to look at the way the human neocortex, a highly specialised brain structure, develops and its role in neuro-muscular diseases. They will use stem-cells taken from human skin and modify them to form human brain organoids which will mimic the complex structure of the neocortex as it develops. If successful the work will provide new pathways for research into conditions such as autism, dementias and diseases affecting neuromuscular development.

Eunchai spoke about how the stem cells will be made into 3D self-assembled clumps of brain cells which allow the complex structure of the human brain to be studied at a molecular level so that more information can be discovered to treat disease.

TV presenter and THRT patron, Chris Packham, joined the presentation by Zoom, at the Bramhall office of the award to Dr Kang by Pauline Rhoades, the wife of Les and his two sons Simon and Matt.

Chris, attending the COP26 conference in Glasgow, said the talk by Eunchai on her plans were “far more optimistic and exciting for the future” than anything he had heard at the conference. He said that “the project was typical of the work funded by THRT in that it was cutting edge research which when successful opens up many avenues for improving human health without harm to animals”. He also noted that up to now most research has been done using mice which does not translate well into human research.