To fight motor neurone disease, we need a steady stream of talented and dedicated scientists who can bring new and innovative ideas to push research forwards. Often, we talk of MND research as a puzzle, with each new piece of research adding to the bigger picture. To add these puzzle pieces, we need the best and brightest minds to build their careers within the field of MND. In 2015, we launched a vital training programme to keep researchers working in MND and become the future leaders of research.
This year marks 10 years since our Non-Clinical Fellowship programme began, which was only possible because of funds raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge. In this blog we delve deeper into what the programme is and how it has helped, and is still helping, to support MND researchers who are driving towards improved care, better understanding of disease biology and new potential treatments for MND.
What is the Non-Clinical fellowship programme?
Our Non-Clinical Fellowship Programme offers funding to the best and brightest researchers at early and mid-career stages and provide them with the opportunity to lead their own project in MND. This enables them to develop their skills, independence, and expertise to become future MND research leaders.
What is a Non-Clinical Fellow?
A Non-Clinical Fellow is a researcher who holds a Non-Clinical Fellowship award. They have completed their PhD and had experience as a postdoctoral researcher. They are not medically trained professionals but scientists who are researching MND.
“We support Non-Clinical Fellows because it enables our promising post-doctoral researchers to be grant holders in their own right, rather than being employed on grants of more senior researchers. It shows that they are independent researchers who have developed their own ideas and are driving their own research programmes”- Dr Sadie Vile, Research Grants Manager.
Are there different types of Non-Clinical Fellows?
There are two levels of Non-Clinical Fellowships available to researchers. Our Junior Non-Clinical Fellowships are aimed at early career researchers with between 2 and 6 years of research experience following completion of their PhD. Our Senior Non-Clinical Fellowships help to support researchers who have between 4 and 10 years of experience after completing their PhD. These two levels of Non-Clinical Fellows ensures that we can support the growth and development of researchers throughout multiple stages of their careers and grow the next generation of research leaders.
How did the programme start?
The Non-Clinical Fellowship programme was set up in 2015 and was initially supported using funds raised during the ice bucket challenge in 2014. At this time, the Association already had a very successful programme with the Medical Research Council for Clinical Fellows (medical doctors who also want to conduct MND research). The Clinical Fellowship programme was set up in 2008 and was designed to attract, train and retain the best and brightest doctors to the field of MND research. The foundations for the Non-Clinical Fellowship programme stemmed from this as senior scientists across the UK called for a similar programme for laboratory scientists.
How has it grown over the years?
When the programme began in 2015, 4 Fellowships were awarded in the first year. Currently, there have been 25 Fellowships awarded in total and 12 of these are ongoing. These 25 Fellowships have been awarded to researchers at 12 different institutions across the UK and Ireland, which has helped to strengthen MND research at these centres and broaden the landscape of research. As of July 2025, we have committed a total spend of over £6.6 million to the Non-Clinical Fellowships programme to support and retain the best and brightest researchers in the field of MND.
What has the programme helped to achieve?
Our Non-Clinical Fellowship programme plays an essential role in helping researchers gain the independence need to build their careers in MND. The programme enables these researchers to gain the skills they need to lead their own teams of researchers and means that the most talented scientists continue to research MND rather than taking their experience to work in another disease area.
“We’re starting to see new Fellows that we’re funding working within the research teams led by of some of the first Fellows we’ve funded.”- Dr Brian Dickie, Chief Scientist.
The Fellowships have so far supported 25 researchers at a range of institutions across the UK and Ireland, and 23 of these are still working in MND. Three of our previous fellows are now researching MND abroad and this strengthens international connections and networks to increase collaboration within research across countries.
Our fellows have made huge strides within the MND research landscape over the last 10 years.
“They’ve made many significant contributions to MND research. They’ve identified new genes, new biochemical pathways that could be targets for future drug treatments, and in some cases, we’ve even seen the creation of spin-out biotechnology companies to take this knowledge forwards and hopefully develop drugs that can be tested in trials.”- Dr Brian Dickie, Chief Scientist.
We hope that the programme continues to have a hugely positive impact on the landscape of MND research in the years to come. Keep an eye on our blog this week to hear more about the programme from some of our previous and current fellows! You can find out more about our fellows on our website.
