AN Oxford scientist has received a cash boost for his research into improving diagnosis and quality of life in children with a rare debilitating condition.

Dr Ming Lim, an Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust researcher, has received funding from Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Sparks, the medical research charity, to fund research into the advancement of treatment in to Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome, otherwise known as Dancing Eye Syndrome.

The condition, caused when a cancer, or infection triggers the immune system to attack the brain, can lead to uncontrollable jerky movements of the child’s eyes and body, as well as unsteadiness on their feet, irritability and sleeping problems.

Researchers from across the UK were invited to apply for funding as part of a £2.1 million investment into rare children's diseases by the two charities - the largest charitable funding call dedicated to child health research in the UK.

Dr Ming Lim said he was delighted to have received the funding adding: “It’s fantastic to know that these two charities are making such a large amount available for child health researchers across the UK to bid for each year.”

Dr Lim and his team form the UK arm of a Europe-wide study of children with Dancing Eye Syndrome.

According to The Dancing Eye Syndrome Support Trust there are between five and 10 newly affected children recognised with the condition in the UK each year.

The study, which has so far recruited 14 patients, aims to determine the most effective course of treatment for affected children.

The Oxford-based researcher now hopes to recruit more children from the UK into the study as scientists aim to reach the target of 100 patients.

This will enable the team to determine the most effective treatment for the condition more quickly, reducing any delay in children being given the treatment most likely to help them.

This could allow more children with dancing eye syndrome, which usually develops when the child reaches the age of two or three, to avoid the debilitating effects of their condition and vastly improve their health and quality of life.

Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Sparks, Tim Johnson, said: “For many seriously ill children, research is their only hope, yet paediatric research is severely underfunded, receiving only five per cent of public and charitable funding research in the UK each year.

"By making more money available to researchers from across the country we will help them to find new ways to diagnose, treat and cure complex diseases that affect children.”