'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling to fund medical research

JK Rowling, the famous Harry Potter author, is all set to appear in the new avatar of a philanthropist as she declared to give more of her £500 million-fortune to fund a new generation of doctors and scientists.

Rowling, 45,who is already reported to have given at least a tenth of her earnings to charity, has laid legal claim to the name Rowling so that she can set up an awards scheme for medical research.

In an application this week to the Intellectual Property Office, she filed papers to register the trademark, which covers the provision of 'scholarships, grants and bursaries' and 'organising competitions and awards'.

"It is in the development stage. When it is officially set up, that is when we can announce it," the Mirror quoted a spokesperson of the author as saying.

Last year, she donated £10 million to fund a clinic named after her mother, Anne, at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University.