Christopher Severson

CHICAGO - The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Foundation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society awarded the 2008 AAN Foundation/National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) Clinician-Scientist Development Fellowship to Christopher Severson, MD, with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, for his work to determine the mechanism through which a newly discovered MS-susceptibility gene influences the immune system to lead to the development of MS. The two-year, $164,000 fellowship was announced during the American Academy of Neurology's 60th Annual Meeting in Chicago, held April 12-19, 2008.

The AAN Foundation/NMSS Clinician Scientist Development Fellowship is designed to encourage MS clinical research with the goal of providing better treatment, prevention or cure for the disorder.

Severson's grant proposed a study of a gene called Interleukin-2 Receptor Alpha Gene (IL2RA), which has been recently linked to the risk of developing MS.

"Depending on which version of this gene is inherited, a person will either be more susceptible to or more protected from developing MS than people with other versions of the gene," Severson said.