2024 McDonald Fellowship Recipients Announced

MSIF is proud to announce the recipients of the 2024 McDonald Fellowships.

The MSIF-ECTRIMS McDonald Fellowship has been awarded to Dr Yohane Gadama from Malawi. He will be conducting a two-year project with Professor Franclo Henning at Stellenbosch University in South Africa on ‘Impact of HIV infection and treatment on the epidemiology and clinical progression of multiple sclerosis’

The MSIF-ARSEP McDonald Fellowship has been awarded to Dr Maria Agustina Piedrabuena from Argentina. She will be conducting her two-year project with Professor Jennifer Graves at the San Diego VA MS Center in the United States on ‘Investigating biomarkers in aging patients with multiple sclerosis’.

Read more about their fellowship projects in this article.

McDonald Fellowships

The McDonald Fellowship is a two-year fellowship that enables young researchers from low- and middle-income countries to work in a research institution outside their own country. The fellows learn new skills and techniques, with a view to returning to their own country to establish an MS research programme involving the application of the techniques they have learned.

MSIF-ECTRIMS McDonald Fellowship

Dr Yohane Gadama is examining the correlation between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and MS. The project will be the first large-scale study in sub-Saharan Africa to look at the health and experiences of people with MS and HIV, exploring the health, symptoms, and quality of life of people with MS in Africa, both with and without HIV.

Through this study, Dr Gadama and his colleagues hope to gather information to improve treatment guidelines for people with both MS and HIV.

This Fellowship is sponsored by our partner, the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

MSIF-FRANCESEP McDonald Fellowship

Researchers have found that biological age (how old your body seems to be) is more important than actual age (how many years you have lived) in understanding how MS progresses. Dr Maria Agustina Piedrabuena’s project aims to identify if there is a connection between biological age markers and new ways to measure MS progression.

Understanding how aging and MS work together is an important step towards finding ways to treat MS more effectively for all people with MS.

This Fellowship is sponsored by our partner France Sclerose En Plaques (FRANCESEP)

Our Sponsors

The McDonald fellowships are made possible by the support of our sponsors, FRANCESEP and ECTRIMS. We are extremely grateful to them for their continued partnership.

Applications for the 2025 McDonald Fellowships will open in Summer 2025. Learn more about the McDonald Fellowships here.