Join the next generation of multiple sclerosis clinicians and scientists

OHSU’s Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Fellowship offers you multidisciplinary training with national experts in MS care and research. Our comprehensive program includes your choice of a one-year or two-year adult clinical fellowship.

All tracks offer the opportunity to treat patients alongside specialists in top centers at OHSU and at the Portland VA Medical Center. Your fellowship will also include weekly seminars in MS and neuroimmunology, as well as opportunities to collaborate with faculty mentors.

Many of our fellows have attracted national-level research funding and have gone on to join our staff. Our robust funding includes a prestigious National Multiple Sclerosis Society Institutional Clinician Training Award granted in 2019.

Fellowship objectives

Our goal is for you to develop hands-on expertise in complex MS care, with a deep understanding of multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology. You’ll join OHSU’s Multiple Sclerosis Center, a designated National MS Society Center for Comprehensive MS Care.

The fellowship follows the American Academy of Neurology consensus curriculum. We offer training tracks you can tailor to your interests and career goals:

• One or two-year clinical and research adult fellowship

Our fellowship is in collaboration with the Portland VA Medical Center, which is part of the VA’s Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence. The VA has been our fellowship partner since 2003.

Fellowship curriculum

Clinical training

You will be the primary neurologist for patients as part of a team caring for about 1,500 OHSU patients and 400 veterans. You will have your own clinics, patient panels and staff supported by an interdisciplinary team of neurologists and others. You will work in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Adult-track fellows will gain experience at the VA. Patients will include veterans with complex health needs. VA patients may live in rural areas and may have limited insurance or income. The VA also comes with exposure to national public health care policy.

You will treat patients alongside leaders in the latest therapies and research: 

• Our faculty have made breakthroughs from identifying a gene critical to myelin to showing how a low-fat diet can ease debilitating fatigue.
• We use advanced technologies, including MRI, electrical stimulation rehabilitation devices and the Lokomat body-weight-supported treadmill.
• Our faculty members are nationally known for managing MS through diet, exercise and stress relief.

Your training will cover the latest:

• Disease-modifying therapies
• Rehabilitation interventions
• Evidence-based wellness approaches

You will also help patients manage complex symptoms and comorbidities under the mentorship of experts in subspecialties such as:

• Urology
• Mental health
• Gastroenterology
• Neuro-ophthalmology

Research

Fellows in our adult care and research track start or join projects and take classes through our Human Investigations Program. National-level funding can include Career Development Awards and support from the Race to Erase MS Center Without Walls program. Research areas include:

Wellness in MS

• Vascular disease in MS: 7T and retinal microvasculature studies
• Diet and exercise in MS 

Pathogenesis of MS

• Antioxidants and lipoic acid as treatments for progressive MS
• Advanced imaging studies of MS pathogenesis

Novel therapies in MS

• Multi-center clinical trials on cutting edge treatments for MS
• New therapeutic development for addressing progressive MS
• Basic neuroscience and neuroimmunology research

Academic training

Your academic training will include opportunities to teach and collaborate with faculty and peers, including as part of:

• Opportunities to develop and disseminate educational material to support our learners and patients
• Weekly local MS didactics
• National bimonthly educational series
• National webinars, newsletters and podcasts

National connections

Our memberships will give you access to a national network of MS centers, experts, resources and conferences through:

• Consortium of MS Centers
• Race to Erase MS Center Without Walls program
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society

How to apply

Apply through SF Match. To qualify, you must be a graduate of an accredited training program in neurology, and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

What to include with your application

• SF Match application (including CV)
• Personal statement
• Medical school transcript
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation
• Certified USMLE scores
• A letter of recommendation from your residency program director
• Three additional letters of recommendation

Contact us to learn more.

• Elizabeth Silbermann, silberme@ohsu.edu
• Jaimie Henry, Jaimie.henry@va.gov

Important dates

• Applications open in the fall. Check ACTRIMS for details.
• Interviews are held in the winter and early spring, two years before the fellowship starts.
• Fellowships typically begin in July, though the start date is negotiable. Onboarding begins in January or February the year before the fellowship starts. The VA has its own onboarding and credentialing processes.

Fellowship leaders

Elizabeth Silbermann, M.D., is director of the MS and Neuroimmunology Fellowship. She is also the assistant director of clinical care at the VA Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence – West and assistant professor in OHSU’s Department of Neurology. Dr. Silbermann focuses her research on finding risk factors for disability in people with MS.

Vijayshree Yadav, M.B.B.S., M.C.R., M.B.B.S., FANA, FAAN, is co-director of the MS and Neuroimmunology Fellowship and director of the OHSU Multiple Sclerosis Center. She also heads OHSU’s Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology. Dr. Yadav is a physician-scientist who has presented research at national and international conferences. Her research interests include complementary treatments for MS.