3 Groups Partner to Offer New MD Research Training Fellowship for 2017

Margarida Azevedo, MSc avatar

by Margarida Azevedo, MSc |

Clinical Research Training Fellowship

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), together with the American Brain Foundation (ABF) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), are partnering to offer a new Clinical Research Training Fellowship in muscular dystrophy (MD) starting in 2017.

Because of the serious need for continuous neurology research, the AAN Research Program has dedicated its grant-making efforts to advance the organization’s commitment to significantly change the lives of researchers and patients.

The AAN and the ABF are collaborating for the first time with the MDA in the development of this fellowship program. This is also the first time the AAN is supporting a fellowship specifically focused on MD and other neuromuscular disorders, which traditionally has been the focus of MDA.

The two-year $130,000 award will also support annual education and research-related costs and fees up to $10,000. The first recipient will be announced at the 2017 AAN Annual Meeting in Boston.

“This new award represents a commitment of the AAN to finding the cure for muscular dystrophy by providing critical support to a neurologist dedicated to the advancement of neurological research,” said Aleksandar Videnovic, M.D., MSc, FAAN — chair of the AAN Working Group on the award – in a press release. “This partnership is timely because it coincides with the launch of the AAN’s 2017 Research Program that includes a comprehensive portfolio of research opportunities in the field of neurology and neuroscience.”

Applications will be accepted until Oct. 1, 2016, and fellowships will commence on July 1, 2017. To learn more about the program or to check all specific dates to apply, visit the AAN’s page on Clinical Research Training Fellowships.

“Since awarding the first research grant in 1993, the AAN has supported many investigators with a research focus on neuromuscular diseases. However, this is the first award specifically designated for the muscular dystrophies,” said Robert Griggs, M.D., FAAN. Griggs is the chair of the ABF’s Research Advisory Committee, and was instrumental in bringing the three organizations together in the development of this program.

The AAN Awards are usually the first steps of a wider network of opportunities in research. Most AAN award recipients have also received additional research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue their research.