Research

The more things change, the more they remain the same

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Our Chief Executive Allan Marriott-Smith takes a look back over the last decade of the HTA.

I’m sure I’m not alone in the thinking that coming to the end of another decade has relatively few highlights. I can say for certain that in January 2020 I’m older, greyer and wrinklier than in 2010, and my knees have seen better days.

Brain and spinal cord donation for hospital and mortuary staff

Many people, with the agreement of their relatives, want to support research into dementia and other brain diseases by donating their brain to a brain bank for research.

Brain banks encourage potential donors to provide written consent while they are alive so that brain donation can proceed smoothly after they have died. Donated brains can only be retrieved on premises licensed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) for removal and storage of tissues for use for research (see 1 below). Most of these premises are mortuaries in NHS hospitals.