Program Directors

Program Directors

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. 

 

 

Program Director/Program Manager Cluster Portfolios
Severn (Ben) Churn, PhD Channels, Synapses, and Circuits Synaptic plasticity (including learning and memory, homeostatic plasticity, and aging); circuit mechanisms and seizure initiation in acquired epilepsies; comorbidities and co-occurring conditions (including cognitive impairments, intellectual disabilities, memory, aging, and Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias)
Miriam Leenders, PhD Channels, Synapses, and Circuits Acquired epilepsies, epilepsies with immunological, infectious or unknown etiology; Lafora disease; psychiatric and hormonal co-occurring conditions in epilepsy; neuroinflammation, neurogenesis, and glia mechanisms of epileptogenesis; synapse development, synapse function, tripartite synapse
Shai Silberberg, PhD Channels, Synapses, and Circuits Molecular structure, function, and regulation of ion channels, transporters, and pumps; channelopathy
Edmund (Ned) Talley , PhD Channels, Synapses, and Circuits Basic research in synaptic transmission, optical technologies for recording and manipulating circuits, technologies for tracing and accessing circuits
Vicky Whittemore, PhD Channels, Synapses, and Circuits Basic, translational, and clinical studies on the epilepsies (including sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)), the genetic epilepsies, and seizure localization studies; myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fatigue
Francesca Bosetti, PhD, PharmD Neural Environment Ischemic stroke, neuroprotection, stroke repair and recovery, and blood-brain barrier
Jane Fountain, PhD Neural Environment Primary brain tumor
Jim Koenig, PhD Neural Environment Hemorrhagic stroke and aneurysm, pediatric/neurodevelopmental hypoxia-ischemic insults, cerebrovascular biology and pathophysiological mechanisms of stroke and recovery, stroke neuroimaging, and global cerebral ischemia
Ursula Utz, PhD Neural Environment Multiple sclerosis and related disorders (including animal models thereof), studies on CNS demyelination and repair
May Wong, PhD Neural Environment HIV-associated neurological disorders, infectious diseases of the nervous system, neurovirology, and Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Tom Cheever, PhD Neurodegeneration Frontotemporal Dementia and associated subtypes; structural, molecular, biochemical, and cellular aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD) as it relates to protein aggregation, mitochondria, and protein processing; genetic, epidemiology and clinical studies in PD
Roderick Corriveau, PhD Neurodegeneration AD/ADRD Program. Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), e.g. vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), vascular dementia (VaD), cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and CADASIL.
Amelie Gubitz, PhD Neurodegeneration Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, Friedreich's Ataxia
Linda McGavern, PhD Neurodegeneration Alzheimer's disease (AD)
Daniel Miller, PhD Neurodegeneration Huntington's Disease; Spinocerebellar Ataxias (SCAs); invertebrate neuromuscular junction synaptic development, structure, and function; NIH Neurobiobank (human brain tissue banking)
Beth-Anne Sieber, PhD Neurodegeneration Parkinson's disease (neuronal loss/repair, circuit dysfunction, neuroinflammation, microbiome, and Udall Centers of Excellence); synucleinopathies (multiple system atrophy (MSA) and preclinical studies of Lewy Body Dementia (LBD)); other movement disorders (dystonia, preclinical and genetic studies of essential tremor)
Christine Swanson-Fischer, PhD Neurodegeneration Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program; NINDS Biorepository (BioSEND); NINDS Human Cell and Data Repository (NHCDR); Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Parkinson's Disease
Keith W. Whitaker, PhD Neurodegeneration AD/ADRD Program; Diverse VCID: White Matter Lesion Etiology of Dementia in Diverse Populations; Determinants of Incident Stroke Cognitive Outcomes and Vascular Effects on Recovery (DISCOVERY)
Laura Mamounas, PhD Neurogenetics Molecular determinants of normal neurodevelopment (including neurotrophic factor signaling mechanisms, transcriptional regulation, and mechanisms of RNA transport and local translation in neurons); Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related neurodevelopmental disorders (including Tuberous sclerosis complex, Rett Syndrome, CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder, Fragile X Syndrome, Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, Angelman and 15q11-q13 duplication Syndromes, and other rare, genetic forms of ASD)
Jill Morris, PhD Neurogenetics General glia biology; oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell development, function and myelination; neural crest and neural tube development; 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)
Glen Nuckolls, PhD Neurogenetics 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
Robert Riddle, PhD Neurogenetics Early pattern formation; neural polarity and migration; axonal guidance; 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)
Ran Zhang, PhD Neurogenetics Ataxia Telangiectasia and basic studies on ATM mutation related DNA damage and DNA repair; NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) policy; NIH Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP); NINDS Human Genetics DNA and Cell Line Repository
Linda Bambrick, PhD Repair & Plasticity Spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury and axonal regeneration
Patrick Bellgowan, PhD Repair & Plasticity Basic, translational, and clinical studies of traumatic brain injury (TBI); cognitive/emotional domains affected by TBI
Sahana N. Kukke, PhD Repair & Plasticity Neural interface technologies that record, modulate or stimulate neural activity; novel biomaterials for repair and neural interface devices; bioengineering applied to the nervous system (including development of hardware, software and computational techniques)
Tim LaVaute, PhD Repair & Plasticity Neurogenesis and progenitor cell biology in nervous system development and function, application/treatment; tissue engineering; human embryonic stem cells; human fetal tissue
Debra Babcock, MD, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Basic and translational aspects of behavior and cognitive neuroscience; CNS plasticity; Lewy Body Dementia; neuroimaging and development
Daofen Chen, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Motor control and learning; device-based or behavioral interventions for stroke and cerebral palsy; rehabilitation
Karen David, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Integrative function of brain circuits, sensorimotor integration, multi-sensory processing; BRAIN Integrated Approaches/Circuits Research Project Grants (R34, R01) and Team exploratory research (U01); BRAIN Initiated Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00)
Jim Gnadt, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Sensory systems, thalamo-cortical functions, systems neurobiology, computational neuroscience; Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS); BRAIN Initiative (integrative systems neuroscience; intracortical human neuroscience (U01); team-research brain circuits programs (U19))
Janet He, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience CNS and homeostatic regulation; sleep; circadian rhythms; sleep in neurological disorders; neuroendocrine systems
DP Mohapatra, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Basic, translational, and clinical research in pain (for investigators whose last name starts with L-Z); Peripheral and spinal mechanisms of somatosensation; Neurobiology of itch; Glia/microglia and neuro-immune biology; NIH HEAL Initiative
Michael Oshinsky, PhD Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Basic, translational, and clinical research in pain (for investigators whose last name starts with A-K); Migraine and other headache disorders; NIH SPARC; HEAL Initiative