Fellowships | United States

 

Biogen provides support for clinical fellowship programs within healthcare and academic organizations. These fellowships support the education and development of future specialists in therapeutic areas with unmet need. Our goal is to support comprehensive clinical training programs that advance patient care.

 

 

Areas of Interest

Biogen considers requests to support fellowship programs in Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

We look for programs that:

  • Focus on building the clinical skills of the specialist
  • Provide a robust and comprehensive clinical program that will enable a fellow to demonstrate the skills and competencies learned during the program
  • Provide an environment conducive to educating fellows in each of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competency areas, which are:
    • Patient Care
    • Medical Knowledge
    • Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
    • Interpersonal Communication Skills
    • Professionalism
    • System-Based Practice
  • Utilize qualified faculty who devote sufficient time to the educational program to fulfill their supervisory and teaching responsibilities and demonstrate a strong interest in the education of fellow(s)
  • Provide training using multi-disciplinary teams
  • Adhere to all applicable regulations, guidelines, and policies

Application Submission Cycles

Requests for clinical fellowships are accepted and reviewed annually in the year prior to the actual fellowship period. Fellowship applications will be accepted from June 1 – July 15, 2023. All decisions will be communicated on August 30, 2023. 

Application Requirements and Organization Eligibility

To be considered for a fellowship, the following criteria must be met:

  • Fellowship request must be unsolicited
  • Fellowship request must not provide tangible benefit to Biogen
  • Fellowship request must be submitted for a future program
  • Funding from other pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies, in addition to Biogen, to support the program is preferred (e.g. multiple sources of funding)
  • Funds are not granted to directly or indirectly encourage recipients to purchase or prescribe Biogen's products or services
  • Funding is permitted to qualified U.S. based academic or accredited medical institutions only; fellowship funding from Biogen will not be given directly to individual fellows
  • Fellowship request should not disclose the name of the fellow in the application
  • Requesting organization must be registered for more than 2 years
  • Requesting organization must confirm receipt of payment and verify how funds were used for all previous Biogen supported activities
  • Requesting organization and fellowship request must be in full compliance with all regional and local codes, laws and industry regulations, including, but not limited to anti-corruption, transparency and privacy laws and regulations.
  • Fellowship award may not be renewed for a fellow previously selected by the organization using Biogen funds

Biogen will conduct appropriate due diligence on all requesting organizations and fellowship requests.

Biogen reserves the right to deny any fellowship request that does not meet application and eligibility requirements.

Biogen must not provide any substantive input or assistance to a requesting organization in drafting or submitting a grant request.

Biogen must not be involved in the selection of the fellow.

Biogen may modify the fellowship application and eligibility requirements at any time.

Fellowship Program Overview and Qualifications

Biogen may award up to $90,000 per academic year. Fellowships are awarded to directly support salaries and limited fringe benefits of fellows. Organizations may not use awarded funds to defray operating expenses.

The fellowship candidate must meet the following requirements:

  • Be a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident of the United States; fellowship candidates with temporary nonimmigrant visa categories are not eligible
  • Have a sponsor who is a full-time faculty member of the requesting organization
  • Not hold a full-time, tenure-track faculty position or its equivalent during the first year of the fellowship
  • Be U.S. Board certified or Board eligible in Neurology
    • Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Fellowship candidates must hold an active MD, DO, NP-BC or PA-C license in good standing
    • Alzheimer’s Disease and Neuromuscular Disease Clinical Fellowship candidates must hold an active MD or DO license in good standing

Clinical Fellowship Criteria

Clinical Fellowships must meet the following criteria:

  • Fellowship request must provide a comprehensive clinical program allowing a fellow to demonstrate his/her learned skills and competencies
  • Fellowship request must have a clear and defined development plan for the fellow
  • Fellowship request must focus on building the clinical skills of the fellow
  • Fellowship program must provide training using multi-disciplinary teams
  • Fellowship program must utilize faculty who devote sufficient time to fulfill their supervisory and teaching responsibilities
  • Fellowship period must be no more than one academic year
  • Fellowship award may not be renewed for a fellow previously selected by the organization using Biogen funds

Review Process

Funding decisions for fellowships are made through a formal, centralized review and decision-making process.

To confirm Biogen’s independence from the requesting organization, the annual operating costs (total reportable expenses) of the organization are reviewed. The annual operating costs, which must be from either of the last 2 fiscal years, will be compared to the total funding provided to the requesting organization by Biogen on a rolling twelve (12) month-basis.

Decisions and Communications

Funding decisions for fellowships are based on the quality of the proposal, alignment with Biogen’s grants strategy and budget availability. Decision notifications will be communicated in writing by the Grants Management & Strategic Giving Office. No other Biogen employee is authorized to provide this information.

Contracting and Payment

All recipient organizations must abide by the terms and conditions as outlined in the Biogen Letter of Agreement (LOA)/contract. The LOA/contract is issued electronically to an authorized signatory of the organization once an application is approved. A fully executed LOA/contract is required prior to the start of the program.

Payment will be issued upon execution of the LOA/contract and the organization’s submission of the required fellow information.

Project / Program Execution

Changes to an awarded fellowship must be reviewed and approved by Biogen prior to the start of the program. To determine if funding may continue, organizations should submit the proposed changes to grantsandgiving@biogen.com for review.

Reconciliation

Once the fellowship concludes, a reconciliation must be completed by the recipient organization. The reconciliation confirms:

  • Receipt of payment
  • Funding was used appropriately (as described in the letter of agreement/contract)
  • Fellowship objectives were achieved
  • Fellow’s experience

This reconciliation must be completed and returned to the Grants Management & Strategic Giving Office within 90 days of the program end date. After 90 days, the reconciliation is considered overdue. Recipient organizations are not eligible to receive new funding until all overdue reconciliations are submitted and approved.

Transparency

Biogen adheres to global transparency and disclosure reporting obligations in accordance with local regulations.