Dr. Ward provides support to the NINDS Director in day-to-day management of tasks related to Institute priorities, coordinates amongst NINDS Divisions and offices, and represents the Director on a wide variety of high-priority and high-profile projects. She also manages communications from the Director to the other parts of NIH, other federal agencies, patient advocacy groups, professional societies, and the scientific community. Dr. Ward previously worked in the NINDS Office of the Director as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow where she served as Acting NINDS Chief of Staff and helped to coordinate the roll-out of the HEAL (Helping End Addiction Long-term) initiative. Prior to coming to NINDS, Dr. Ward worked as a postdoc at the University of California, San Diego, where she received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences, focused on the stem cell modeling of polyglutamine repeat disorders and associated metabolic and mitochondrial defects. She completed her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Rhodes College. She is currently on a long-term detail as Senior Advisor for Health and Life Sciences in the Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) at the Executive Office of the President.