Foundation Awards 10th Recipient of the Ekbom Award

The RLS Foundation is pleased to announce that Christopher J. Earley, MB, BCh, PhD, FRCPI, of Johns Hopkins Medicine, is the recipient of the prestigious 2017 Ekbom Award.
Dr. Earley has been a passionate champion of our mission for many years. Through his medical practice, he has helped many with severe RLS manage their symptoms, worked on many important research advancements for RLS, and has been an outstanding leader of the Foundation's Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB), which he chairs. Dr. Earley also serves as co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome, the very first RLS Quality Care Center.
"Dr. Early is committed to working with patients to find the best treatment program to manage their RLS so they can get back to enjoying life," Executive Director Karla Dzienkowski said. "Dr. Earley helps to drive the work of the RLS Foundation forward by ensuring that our programs fulfill our mission and goals of awareness, education and supporting research that will lead to better treatments and one day, a cure."
The Ekbom Award is awarded to an individual for meritorious service to the Foundation. Dr. Earley was a member of the Medical Advisory Board (MAB) for 16 years, and also served as MAB Chair. In 2015, Dr. Earley became the first Chair of the new SMAB.
"Dr. Earley’s work as both a RLS clinician and researcher give him a unique perspective and passion for the cause," Dzienkowski said. "I am thankful for his service and willingness to provide guidance, comment or feedback on issues surrounding the work of the Foundation."
Past winners of the Ekbom Award include Drs. Art Walters (1999), Richard Allen (2000) and Michael Silber (2014), all of whom are active members of the SMAB. Other awardees include former Executive Directors Cate Murray (2001) and Pickett Guthrie (2008) - also a founding member - founding members Robert Balkam (2003) and Sheila Connolly (2005), Wayne Henning (2008) and New Hampshire Support Group Leader and former board member Roberta Kittredge (2016).
Stay tuned for a full article about Dr. Earley and his contributions in the summer issue of NightWalkers.