We don’t know when the cure for MS will come, but we know we need a continuous stream of highly trained scientists and physicians to search for it and to make sure it gets to people with MS.
The National MS Society funds different fellowship programs that allow young men and women to train with seasoned MS scientists and physicians in laboratories and MS clinics, and ease their transitions into independent careers. Often these fellows are the hands doing the experiments and providing the first line of care for patients.
These relatively small awards pay off well: Prominent researchers making MS breakthroughs today began their careers as Society trainees, and the Society’s investment in fellowship awards has leveraged at least $400 million over the years in MS grant funding from all sources.
Read more about how these programs have served as a great investment in the future of MS research and care.
Training Grants and Fellowships
To attract and train promising investigators and clinicians, we offer the following research and clinical care training programs:
- Postdoctoral Fellowships: Young investigators conducting research under the mentorship of senior scientists.
- Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowships: Training doctors to conduct MS clinical trials.
- NMSS-AAN MS Clinician Scientist Development Award: Support for young neurologists to receive training in MS clinical research.
- Career Transition Fellowships: Advancing promising fellows into full faculty positions.
- Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar Awards: Five years of support for talented professors starting their careers as independent MS researchers.
- Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship In Rehabilitation Research: Support for a mentor-institution to train clinician scientists to conduct MS-specific rehabilitation research.
- The Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Care Physician Fellowships Program : Training neurologists or physiatrists in specialized MS clinical care.
- John Dystel Fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis: Advanced training in MS nursing care.
Early Clinical Trial Shows Feasibility of Reducing Immune Responses in People with MS Using Their Own Altered Blood Cells
Jun 05, 2013
An international team has reported results of a small, early clinical trial involving 10 people with relapsing or secondary-progressive MS that tested the feasibility and preliminary safety of using a patient’s own altered blood cells to reduce immune responses against specific components of myelin, the nerve covering that is a key target of immune attacks in MS.
Research sheds light on emotional changes in MS - Interview with clinical psychologist/researcher Dr. David Rintell
May 24, 2013
In proclaiming May as National Mental Health Awareness Month, President Barack Obama sought to “shine a light” on the mental health problems experienced by tens of millions of Americans. Emotional changes may be a major concern for people with MS. Clinical psychologist David Rintell, EdD (Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston) addresses these issues with people with MS in his practice, and has been funded by the National MS Society’s Health Care Delivery and Policy Research (HCDPR)program to study ways to help enhance mental health to people with MS.
MS Trial Alert: Investigators Nationwide Recruiting People with All Types of MS for Early, Phase I Study to Determine Safety of Experimental Antibody
May 22, 2013
Summary: Investigators nationwide are recruiting 60 people with all types of MS for a phase I study to determine the safety and tolerability of rHIgM22, an experimental antibody. The study is funded by Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.
