Professor Dame Pamela Shaw

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw is a pioneering Neurologists and a leading figure in tackling motor neurone disease or MND. She is the founder and Director of SITran – the World leading Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, which is slowly but surely unlocking the secrets of MND and other devastating neurological conditions.

Pam was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, in 1955, and at three moved to Kuwait when her father took up the position of harbour master. She lived there until she was eleven, but with no suitable secondary school available locally, she was sent back to Northumberland to board at Our Lady's Convent High School in Alnwick.

She studied medicine at Newcastle University and began her clinical training in the North-east. Following her appointment as a consultant neurologist she developed an interest in Motor Neurone Disease.

A chance meeting with a recently dignosed MND patient led to Pam founding the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience in 2010. She was made a Dame in 2014.

Pam lives in Sheffield with her husband Paul. They have a grown-up daughter, Sophie.

DISC ONE: Messiah HWV 56, "Hallelujah Chorus". Composed by George Frideric Händel and performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Douglas Gamley

DISC TWO: Somethin’ Stupid - Frank Sinatra / Nancy Sinatra

DISC THREE: Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell

DISC FOUR: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis

DISC FIVE: Sweet and Dandy - Toots and the Maytals

DISC SIX: The Marriage of Figaro / \"Duettino\" Sull 'Aria. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Edith Mathis, Gundula Janowitz (sopranos) The Orchestra of Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Karl Böhm

DISC SEVEN: Ashokan Farewell - The Band of H.M. Royal Marines

DISC EIGHT: The Lucky One - Alison Krauss & Union Station

BOOK CHOICE: Kristin Hannah Collection

LUXURY ITEM: Roses

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis

Presenter: Lauren Laverne

Producer: Tom Alban

Desert Island Discs has cast away many medical scientists over the years, including Stephen Westaby, Professor Dame Lesley Regan and David Nott. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.