A UNIVERSITY professor has received $500,000 from the US to study a rare brain condition.

Professor Roy Quinlan, of Durham University's biological and biomedical sciences department, is a member of a group of researchers looking into Alexander Disease. The group has now received $4m from the US National Institute of Health, of which $500,000 will go to Prof Quinlan's Durham team.

The grant follows the recent discovery by his team of a link between cataracts and brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.

It is hoped that this may eventually lead to the development of drugs to cure cataracts.

Sir Kenneth Calman, vice-chancellor of the university, said: "The university is tremendously proud to have people of world-class quality at the heart of its research community.

"We congratulate Prof Quinlan on this achievement and wish his team continued success in their work."

The Alexander Disease consortium aims to make important contributions to understanding the human brain with a view to treating degenerative brain diseases.

Prof Quinlan's department was awarded a top grade for being predominantly world-class in the last Higher Education Funding Council ratings.