Courtney was awarded a $2 million faculty recruitment award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). This recruitment award supports very promising emerging investigators pursuing first faculty appointment, who are prepared to make outstanding contributions to the field of cancer research.

Courtney was awarded the Holly and Gerald N. Wogan Award for Scientific Research Excellence at the 31st Aspen Cancer Conference. This award was based on his work presented at the conference as a Fellow of the Aspen Cancer Conference.

Courtney was awarded the Charles B. Carrington Memorial Prize at the Department of Pathology annual research retreat, Stanford University School of Medicine. These awards come with a generous cash prize, supported by the Charles B. Carrington Memorial Fund and the Cheryl Whitlock Pathology Prize.

Courtney was selected to present at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) as an AACR NextGen Star. In addition to travel support, these awards provide an exciting opportunity to increase the visibility of early-career scientists at the AACR Annual Meeting and to support the professional development and advancement of those selected to speak.

Courtney was selected for the "Best Talk" award at the 37th Annual Stanford Cancer Biology Conference, for his talk entitled "Chromatin accessibility underlies the tumor suppression role of BAF (mSWI/SNF) complexes in human cancer."

Courtney's K99/R00 (Pathway to Independence) grant proposal, entitled "Dynamic effects of cancer mutations on the mammalian SWI/SNF ATPase Brg," was selected to be funded by the National Cancer Institute. The purpose of the NIH K99/R00 program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NIH-supported, independent investigators. This grant will fund Courtney's transition to an independent researcher.