A researcher whose findings could help create new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) is swapping the lab for the great outdoors to complete a huge charity challenge in Highland Perthshire this weekend.
Dr Irene Molina-González (34) will take on the Full Tilt Ultra during the Blair Castle Trail Weekender, near Pitlochry, tomorrow (June 4).
Not only will Irene run 58km, but she will also summit two munros as part of the route – Càrn a’ Chlamain (963m) and Beinn Dearg (1009m).
Irene, who ran the New York Marathon last year, will be taking part in the event with her partner Mario to raise funds for the MS Society.
“Doing the research is rewarding but you want to do more,” Irene said. “You sometimes feel that you haven’t done enough.
“Once you get to know MS you realise there are more people close to you that are affected by it.
“You talk to people and they say ‘oh my friend’s mum’s got MS’ or ‘oh my uncle has got a brother with MS’ and I really want to help these people.
“I want more people to keep doing research so that we can find treatments.”
MS damages nerves in the body and makes it harder to do everyday things, like walk, talk, eat and think.
As a researcher, Irene developed an interest in studying myelin – the protective coating around nerve fibres that is attacked and damaged by a person’s immune cells when they have MS.
During Irene’s PhD, which was funded by the MS Society, she made discoveries about remyelination – the repair of damaged myelin – that could help with the development of new MS treatments.
MS is relentless, painful and disabling. Through her work, Irene has met people living with MS, including retired Paralympic swimmer and MS Society Ambassador Stephanie Millward MBE, who have helped her understand the impact the condition can have on lives.
She said: “MS is a very complex condition that has a lot of things in common with other conditions so that’s why I became interested in MS as well. At the end of the day you want to help people.”
Looking forward to the event, Irene said: “I’ve got a pretty good routine. I wake up very early in the mornings and first thing, I train.
“I might just go for a run or I might just go for a swim.
“Then evenings I do some cross training as well, so I do a lot of strength training for running and also some stretching like yoga.
“To train for the munros I’ve done a lot of running on the Pentlands because it’s quite a good place to get the feeling of the
terrain.
“I’ve done one ultra before, so I am still a novice in the ultras world.
“As part of the training I’ve run a marathon to raise money for Ukraine refugees and also run over marathon distance.
“It’s something I really like doing.
“I’m feeling very excited. Always, close to the race, I get more nervous but I think that’s normal. I’m
ready.
“I want to thank the MS Society for the incredible work they do for helping researchers and also helping the people that have the condition.”
Irene is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Edinburgh, working in the Miron Lab on other projects involving remyelination.
To sponsor Irene go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/irene-molina-gonzalez1 or to read about Irene’s PhD research visit https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/36997
