A news release issued by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation reports that the foundation is providing an open invitation to submit proposals for the Marilyn Hilton Award for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis Research. The award is intended to facilitate innovative and potentially paradigm-shifting research about progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

According to the release, the foundation expects to commit up to $6 million in grant funding to be distributed over a 4-year period, with the intention of supporting multiple awards. For this funding cycle, the release says, the Marilyn Hilton Award will support grants of up to 4 years, totaling no more than $900,000 per organization over the grant period.

For more information about proposal criteria and how to apply, click here

The award’s namesake is Marilyn Hilton, the mother of Steven Hilton, current foundation chairman, president, and CEO, who suffered from complications of MS.

Hilton states that his family has become “intimately aware of the challenges facing a person living with severe MS. When someone you love is afflicted with MS, it opens your heart to the suffering that others go through, so you feel it’s important to reach out and help others that are going through a similar struggle. Those with MS and those who love them will benefit from this innovative research.”

The release notes that a Scientific Advisory Committee is set to select the winners.  The committee features experts in the field of MS that include Stephen Hauser, MD, chair of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco; Daniel Reich, MD, PhD, chief, Translational Neuroradiology Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; and Henry McFarland, MD, retired chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The foundation adds in the release that all interested non-profits are invited to apply. One proposal per institution will be considered. Award recipients will be notified in November 2014.

Photo Credit: PRnewsFoto/Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Source: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation