With the increasing number of new therapies being developed for use in MS, there is a need for physicians trained in conducting clinical trials. To this end, the Society established the Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship Program, named in honor of its founder. Clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of therapies for multiple sclerosis are highly complex and require special expertise and knowledge to monitor this highly variable disease.
It is the intent of this program that the individual with an MD or equivalent medical degree will acquire formal training, under the tutelage of an established investigator, in a broad range of key elements associated with conducting clinical trials in MS. These may include design of study protocols, recruitment of patients, power calculations, randomization procedures, use of controls, identification of appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, identification of primary and secondary outcome measures, maintenance and assessment of blinding, informed consent, safety monitoring and evaluation, and data access and statistical analysis. These elements must be integrated in the plan of training.
The proposal must provide documentation that:
To be considered for funding, all projects must show relevance to the Society’s research priorities. See Research Funding Principles and Priorities: https://www.nationalmssociety.org/For-Professionals/Researchers/Society-Funding/Research-Funding-Principles-and-Priorities
A list of funding principles can be found at: https://nmsscdn.azureedge.net/getmedia/7bfb53f5-b1bc-41d2-9a90-a543da0ae02a/Policies_and_Procedures_Research_Funding_Programs_and_Awards.pdf#page=4.
