Clinical Fellowship Program

Richard Olney Clinician-Scientist Development Award in ALS

Supports clinician-scientists advancing ALS research through sustained development awards to strengthen real-world implementation.

The Richard Olney Clinician-Scientist Development Award in ALS is a co-funded program established through a partnership among The ALS Association, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and the American Brain Foundation (ABF). The award provides $240,000 in total funding over three years to support salary plus education and research-related costs for mid-career clinician-scientists advancing ALS clinical research. Two awards are distributed annually through this partnership, and the program is explicitly designed to encourage promising investigators to pursue ALS research while building the independent research laboratory infrastructure needed to sustain long-term careers in the field.

Eligibility is restricted to clinician-scientists who are members of the American Academy of Neurology, are pursuing an academic career in neurological research, and completed their residency or Ph.D. no more than seven years prior to the start of the award. The seven-year window distinguishes the Olney Award from the companion Clinical Research Training Scholarship (five-year window), positioning it for researchers at a somewhat more advanced career stage. Applications are administered exclusively through AAN's portal at www.aan.com; the ALS Association does not accept direct submissions through ProposalCentral for this award.

The award covers salary and research-related expenditures over the full three-year period, providing protected academic time to develop a focused ALS clinical research agenda. As with the companion scholarship, the award is described as a bridge to NIH and other larger funding sources. Applicants should consult AAN's portal for current cycle open and deadline dates, as the AAN manages the application timeline. The endorsement of three major organizations — the ALS Association, AAN, and ABF — gives awardees strong recognition within the neurology research community.