Program Directors oversee the research activities in one or more parts of the Institute's research funding program, managing a portfolio of grants and contracts and coordinating program efforts in these specifically defined areas of neuroscience research. Please reach out to individual Program Directors for more information about specific opportunities.
Use the quick search below to find your program director based on your research keywords.
File
Program Director/Program Manager | Portfolios | Organization Category |
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Churn, Severn (Ben) (Ph.D.) | Acquired epilepsies (with focus on circuit mechanisms, seizure initiation, seizure detection, seizure prediction); comorbidities and co-occurring conditions: cognitive impairments, ID, post-traumatic epilepsy, stroke-induced seizures, seizures in aging and development; basic research on synaptic transmission and plasticity | Channels Synapses and Circuits |
Leenders, Miriam (Ph.D.) | Acquired epilepsies (with focus on epilepsies with immunological or infectious etiology); epilepsy prevention strategies, disease modifying interventions, and cell replacement therapies; comorbidities and co-occurring conditions: psychiatric and hormonal; Lafora Disease; temporal lobe epilepsy; basic research on synaptic function; tripartite synapse | Channels Synapses and Circuits |
Umanah, George (Ph.D.) | Molecular structure, function, and regulation of ion channels, transporters, and pumps; channelopathy; mitochondria and mTORopathy mediated epileptic spasms and structural epilepsies; identifying novel genes and biomarkers for the epilepsies | Channels Synapses and Circuits |
Whittemore, Vicky (Ph.D.) | Genetic epilepsies; metabolic epilepsy; sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP); clinical epilepsy research; myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fatigue; alternating hemiplegia of children | Channels Synapses and Circuits |
Sieber, Beth-Anne (Ph.D.) | Synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Lewy body dementias; preclinical and clinical studies evaluating cellular and molecular neurodegeneration, genetic, and other risk factors | Movement Disorders & Neurodegeneration |
Swanson-Fischer, Christine (Ph.D.) | Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Lewy Body Dementias (LBD), and related synucleinopathies focusing on biomarker discovery and validation, omics-based approaches, clinical genetics, epidemiology, and natural history studies | Movement Disorders & Neurodegeneration |
Price, Rebecca (Ph.D.) | NINDS Biorepository (BioSEND); NINDS Human Cell and Data Repository (NHCDR); NINDS Biospecimen Resource Access Committees (BRACs) | Movement Disorders & Neurodegeneration |
Sarraf, Shireen (Ph.D.) | Structural, biochemical, molecular, and cellular aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD) as it relates to alpha-synuclein structure, mitochondrial biology, and lysosomal function; role of environmental factors in the etiology of synucleinopathies; basic studies of protein quality control (mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, protein aggregation, mitophagy, autophagy) in the pathogenesis of PD and LBD | Movement Disorders & Neurodegeneration |
Bosetti, Francesca (Ph.D,, Pharm.D.) | Ischemic stroke, neuroprotection, biology of stroke repair and recovery, and blood-brain barrier | Neural Environment |
Daley, William (Ph.D.) | HIV-associated neurological disorders, infectious diseases of the nervous system, neurovirology, and Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies | Neural Environment |
Fountain, Jane (Ph.D.) | Primary brain tumor (pediatric and young adult) | Neural Environment |
Koenig, Jim (Ph.D.) | Hemorrhagic stroke and aneurysm, pediatric/neurodevelopmental hypoxia-ischemic insults, cerebrovascular biology and pathophysiological mechanisms of stroke and recovery, stroke neuroimaging, and global cerebral ischemia | Neural Environment |
Kotliarova, Svetlana (Ph.D.) | Primary brain tumor (adult) | Neural Environment |
Utz, Ursula (Ph.D.) | Multiple sclerosis and related disorders (including animal models thereof), studies on CNS demyelination and repair | Neural Environment |
Cymerblit Sabba, Adi (Ph.D.) | NIH Neurobiobank (human brain tissue banking) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
McCartney, Amber (Ph.D.) | Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Gubitz, Amelie (Ph.D.) | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Shewmaker, Frank (Ph.D.) | Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
McGavern, Linda (Ph.D.) | Alzheimer's disease (AD), Limbic-predominant Age-related TDP-43 Encephalopathy (LATE), and Multiple Etiology Dementia (MED) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Miller, Daniel (Ph.D.) | Huntington's Disease; invertebrate NMJ development, structure, and function; NIH NeuroBioBank (human brain tissue banking) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Corriveau, Roderick (Ph.D.) | Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Program Lead; Point of Contact for Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID), for example Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI), Vascular Dementia (VaD), Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA), and CADASIL | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Ranganathan, Srikanth (Ph.D.) | Spinocerebellar Ataxias (SCAs), Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA/FA), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP); Cell death mechanisms relevant to neurodegenerative disorders and not due to ischemia per se; Basic Mechanisms of Spinocerebellar Ataxias (SCAs), Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA/FA), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias (HSPs); Cell death mechanisms relevant to neurodegenerative disorders and not due to ischemia per se; Basic Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration including Mitochondrial / ER / Calcium homeostasis, RNA biology and protein turnover; Neuromuscular Junction Biology (vertebrate) | Neurodegeneration, Dementia, & Repeat Expansion Disorders |
Doss, Argenia (Ph.D.) | NIH Common Fund Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) | Neurogenetics |
Morris, Jill (Ph.D). | Technology development for gene-targeted therapies; various uncommon and rare diseases (including neural tube defects (spina bifida), hydrocephalus and normal pressure hydrocephalus, Tourette syndrome and tics, Neurofibromatosis 1 and 2, Schwannomatosis, Noonan Syndrome, inborn errors of metabolism, lysosomal storage disorders, leukodystrophies, brain iron accumulation disorders (NBIA), copper metabolism disorders, congenital disorders of glycosylation, mitochondrial disorders, and peroxisomal disorders); Ataxia Telangiectasia and basic studies on ATM mutation related DNA damage and DNA repair; neural crest and neural tube development | Neurogenetics |
Nuckolls, Glen (Ph.D.) | Muscular dystrophies; spinal muscular atrophy and inherited peripheral neuropathies (e.g. Charcot-Marie-Tooth, giant axonal neuropathy, familial dysautonomia) and inflammatory or autoimmune peripheral neuropathies (e.g. myasthenia gravis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy); diabetic and chemotherapy induced-peripheral neuropathies | Neurogenetics |
Riddle, Robert (Ph.D.) | Early pattern formation; cortical, cerebellar, midbrain, and hindbrain development; chromatin structure and function in the nervous system; epigenetic mechanisms; development and use of animal model systems; Joubert and Dandy-Walker Syndrome; Chiari Malformations; Down Syndrome and diseases related to intellectual developmental disorders; Fragile X Tremor Ataxia (FXTAS) | Neurogenetics |
Zhang, Ran (Ph.D.) | NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) policy; NIH Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP); NINDS Human Genetics DNA and Cell Line Repository | Neurogenetics |
Tyler, William (Ph.D.) | General glial biology; oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell development, function and myelination; basic astrocyte biology; neuronal polarity and migration; axon guidance | Neurogenetics |
Talley, Edmund (Ned) (Ph.D.) | BRAIN Initiative Neurotechnology Development Program, BRAIN CONNECTS Program | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Hwang, Grace (Ph.D.) | BRAIN Initiative New Technologies (R01, RF1); BRAIN Initiative Optimization (U01) | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Gebrehiwet, Hermon (Dr.PH.) | Research Opportunities in Humans | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Gnadt, Jim (Ph.D.) | Systems and computational neuroscience; BRAIN Initiative (integrative systems neuroscience; intracortical human neuroscience (U01); team-research brain circuits programs (U19)) | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
David, Karen (Ph.D.) | BRAIN Integrated Approaches/Circuits Research Project Grants (R34, R01) and Exploratory Team-research BRAIN Circuit Program - eTeamBCP (U01); NINDS Collaborative Opportunities for Multidisciplinary, Bold, and Innovative Neuroscience (COMBINE RM1); team science; species diversity | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Johnson, Kari (Ph.D.) | BRAIN CONNECTS Program; BRAIN Initiated Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00) | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Trzcinski, Natalie (Ph.D.) | BRAIN Initiative Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24) | Neurotechnology & Integrated Systems |
Awwad, Hibah (Ph.D.) | Basic and translational that relate to traumatic brain injury (TBI); cognitive/emotional domains affected by TBI; TBI-related dementia including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) | Repair & Plasticity |
Bambrick, Linda (Ph.D.) | Responses to spinal cord injury or peripheral nerve injury, including axonal regeneration; interventions to promote recovery and/or restore function | Repair & Plasticity |
LaVaute, Tim (Ph.D.) | Neurogenesis and progenitor cell biology in nervous system development and function, application/treatment; tissue engineering; human embryonic stem cells; human fetal tissue; dendritic growth and plasticity | Repair & Plasticity |
Umoh, Nsini (Ph.D.) | Translational and clinical studies that relate to traumatic brain injury (TBI); cognitive/emotional domains affected by TBI; TBI-related dementia including Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) | Repair & Plasticity |
Babcock, Debra (M.D., Ph.D.) | Basic and translational aspects of behavior and cognitive neuroscience; CNS plasticity; Lewy Body Dementia; neuroimaging development (disease-agnostic) | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Bachman, Julia (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative Early Translational Efforts; HEAL PRECISION Human Pain Network | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Chen, Daofen (Ph.D.) | Motor control and learning; device-based or behavioral interventions for movement disorders, stroke, and cerebral palsy; neural rehabilitation | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
He, Janet (Ph.D.) | CNS and homeostatic regulation of sleep and circadian rhythms; sleep in neurological disorders; neuroendocrine systems | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Mohapatra, DP (Ph.D.) | Translational mechanistic pain research; itch, peripheral somatosensation, and glia/neuroimmune biology (non-pain); HEAL Initiative | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Osborne, Leslie (Ph.D.) | Sensory and multi-sensory systems, cortical and thalamic circuits, integrative function of brain circuits, sensorimotor integration, computational neuroscience, and Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS), Smart and Connected Health (SCH) | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Oshinsky, Michael (Ph.D.) | Migraine and other headache disorders; trigeminal nociception; HEAL Initiative | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Greenwell, Thomas (Ph.D.) | Basic, preclinical, and clinical research in pain; peripheral and central mechanisms, pathways, circuits and processing of pain | Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience |
Crawford, Devon C. (Ph.D.) | Research quality, experimental rigor, scientific transparency, training in the principles of rigorous research | Office of Research Quality |
Silberberg, Shai (Ph.D.) | Research quality, experimental rigor, scientific transparency, training in the principles of rigorous research | Office of Research Quality |
Benson, Richard (M.D., Ph.D) | Vascular neurology, clinical trials, epidemiology, global health, minority health, health disparities and health equity | Global Health and Health Disparities |
Brown, Jeremy (M.D.) | SIREN (Strategies to Innovate EmeRgENcy Care Clinical Trials Network); clinical trials in neurologic, heart, lung, blood, and traumatic injuries | Division of Clinical Research |
Hartman, Adam (M.D.) | Pediatric epilepsy; clinical epilepsy research | Division of Clinical Research |
Hommer, Rebecca (M.D.) | EPPIC-Net (Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network); pediatric research | Division of Clinical Research |
Janis, Scott (Ph.D.) | Clinical trials and epidemiology, Cerebrovascular disease, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), NINDS Stroke Trials Network and the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials Network (NETT) | Division of Clinical Research |
Karp, Barbara (M.D.) | HEAL Initiative; EPPIC-NET (Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network) | Division of Clinical Research |
Lungu, Codrin (M.D.) | Parkinson's disease, dystonia, tremor, myoclonus | Division of Clinical Research |
Arudchandran, Ram (Ph.D.) | HEAL Biomarker Program | Division of Translational Research |
Langhals, Nick (Ph.D.) | Translational Neural Devices, BRAIN Initiative, HEAL Initiative | Division of Translational Research |
Boshoff, Chris (Ph.D.) | Cooperative Research to Enable and Advance Translational Enterprises (CREATE) | Division of Translational Research |
Caporello, Emily (Ph.D.) | Small Business Programs (SBIR/STTR); BRAIN Dissemination Research Resource Program | Division of Translational Research |
Cywin, Charles (Ph.D.) | Blueprint Therapeutics Network and HEAL Analgesic Therapeutics Development (Small Molecures and Biologics) to Treat Pain | Division of Translational Research |
Frankowski, Megan (Ph.D.) | Translational Neural Devices, BRAIN Initiative, HEAL Initiative | Division of Translational Research |
Gross, Brooks A. (Ph.D.) | Translational Neural Devices, BRAIN Initiative, HEAL Initiative | Division of Translational Research |
Hachicha, Mohamed (Ph.D.) | Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network | Division of Translational Research |
Hudak, Eric M. (Ph.D.) | Translational Neural Devices; Neural prostheses, neural engineering, sensory prostheses, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), prosthetic-limb control, peripheral and spinal interfaces, electrochemistry, implantable materials | Division of Translational Research |
Iyengar, Smriti (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative - Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain (PSPP) program | Division of Translational Research |
Jett, David A. (Ph.D.) | Neural Exposome and Toxicology | Division of Translational Research |
Klein, Brian (Ph.D.) | Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP), Preclinical Pharmacology, Animal Models; Preclinical Neurotherapeutic Development | Division of Translational Research |
Laeng, Pascal (Ph.D.) | Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network and Functional Target Validation for Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias | Division of Translational Research |
Langhals, Nick (Ph.D.) | Translational Neural Devices; Neural engineering with emphases in neuroprostheses, neuromodulation, brain-computer interface (BCI) devices, prosthetic control, and neural interface technology development | Division of Translational Research |
Pelleymounter, Mary Ann (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative Analgesic Therapeutics Development (Small Molecules and Biologics) to Treat Pain | Division of Translational Research |
Raessi, Shamsi (Ph.D.) | Blueprint Therapeutics Network | Division of Translational Research |
Rangarajan, Nagarajan (Ph.D.) | Blueprint Therapeutics Network | Division of Translational Research |
Raol, Yogi (Ph.D.) | Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) | Division of Translational Research |
Roof, Rebecca (Ph.D.) | Innovation Grants to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE) | Division of Translational Research |
Skiadopoulos, Mario (Ph.D.) | Cooperative Research to Enable and Advance Translational Enterprises (CREATE) | Division of Translational Research |
Spriggs, Shardell (Ph.D.) | NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats Program | Division of Translational Research |
Taylor-Burds, Carol (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative - Biomarkers Program and Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network | Division of Translational Research |
Iyengar, Smriti (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative - Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain (PSPP) | Division of Translational Research |
Woller, Sarah (Ph.D.) | HEAL Initiative - Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain (PSPP) | Division of Translational Research |
Ullrich, Lauren (Ph.D.) | Diversity Faculty K01, MOSAIC K99/R00, NINDS ADRD K99/R00, D-SPAN F99/K00, Summer R25s, SCORE (SC1, 2, 3), SURE | OPEN- Workforce Diversity |
Torres-Salazar, Delany (Ph.D.) | Training & Workforce Development | |
Korn, Stephen (Ph.D.) | Inquiries about K12 institutional training programs as well as the NINDS Research Education Programs for Residents and Fellows in Neurology and Neurosurgery (R25) and the general NINDS R25 program. Inquiries about career development awards (postdoc K01, K02, K08, K23) and The Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00). Inquiries about the T32 Institutional Training Programs. Inquiries about the R15 AREA Program. Inquiries about the Loan Repayment Program (LRP). General inquiries related to training, career development and research education, and all inquiries related to the training of clinician-scientists. Inquiries about transitioning to independent, non-mentored funding mechanisms. | Training & Workforce Development |
Hsu, Nina (Ph.D.) | Neuroethics, Bioethics | Division of Extramural Activities |
Mendoza-Puccini, Carolina (Ph.D.) | Strategies to Innovate Emergency Care Clinical Trials Network (SIREN), Common Data Elements (CDE), Data Sharing, Clinical Trials, Human Subjects | Division of Clinical Research |
Jones-London, Michelle D. (Ph.D.) | Diversity Training and Workforce Development including Diversity Supplements (BRAIN AND ADRD), Re-Entry Supplements, R25 Education Programs (Neuroscience Scholars Program and NIH Blueprint ENDURE), Career Development Awards (Diversity K01, MOSIAC, and BRAIN Initiative K99/R00), Predoctoral (F31) Diversity NRSA, NIH Blueprint Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) Award F99/K00, Diversity Outreach Conferences and Diversity Workgroup Activities | OPEN- Workforce Diversity |
Matthews, Marguerite (Ph.D.) | R13 Inclusion, NINDS Diversity and Re-Entry/Re-Integration Supplements, Diversity R25, ENDURE R25, and Diversity F31 | OPEN- Workforce Diversity |
Sankar, Cheryse (Ph.D.) | Health Equity; Sociodeterminants of Health; Pain Disparities; NIH HEAL Initiative; Health Disparities in Neurological Disorders and Stroke | Global Health and Health Disparities |