Author JK Rowling donates $18.8M for multiple sclerosis research

JK Rowling, the author of the popular Harry Potter book series, has made a substantial donation for research into the treatment of multiple sclerosis at a centre named after her late mother.

She has donated $ 18.8 million, which will be used for new facilities at a research centre based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The centre provides research and trials for people who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases. The neurological diseases that the clinic studies includes motor neurone disease (MND), Parkinson's, and dementias.

In 2010, the author had donated £10 million that started the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh. Her mother suffered from the disease and died at the age of 45.

Born in the south-west of England, the author grew up with her parents and sister. Her mother battled with multiple sclerosis for ten years and passed away in 1990 when Rowling was 25 years old. This was six months after she had begun noting the storyline of Harry Potter on dozens of paper napkins.

BBC reported that on the matter of the centre and the donation, she said, "When the Anne Rowling Clinic was first founded, none of us could have predicted the incredible progress that would be made in the field of regenerative neurology, with the clinic leading the charge."

JK Rowling became a billionaire after the great success of the Harry Potter series, but lost the billionaire title after she donated her wealth to charity. In 2011, she donated 16 percent of her total net worth to multiple causes.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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