Noam Keren, is a Health Program Specialist in the Division of Neuroscience (DON) Office of the Associate Director (OAD). Before joining NINDS, Noam was a scientific project manager at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) where he managed the Accelerating Medicines Partnership in Schizophrenia (AMP-SCZ) program and engaged in other efforts to advance therapeutic development through innovative public-private partnerships for neuroscience research.
Previously, Noam served as a science officer supporting a portfolio of CNS and mental health grants at the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). From 2014-2018, Noam was a staff officer on the Board on Health Sciences Policy at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), where he worked the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, which promotes discussion of contemporary and innovative topics in brain research and treatment by convening leading experts from academia, government, industry, and non-profit organizations. Noam was also a staff member at the NASEM Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, supporting both the Committee on the Use of Economic Evidence to Inform Investments in Children, Youth, and Families, and the Forum on Promoting Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health, where he helped plan and lead activities on prevention of mental disorders in youth.
Before joining the National Academies, Noam conducted research in cognitive neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina, using behavioral measures and advanced neuroimaging methods to investigate the neurobiology of attention, sensory processing, and monoamine neuromodulation in humans and in animal models. Noam received his M.A. degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis where he performed research on schizophrenia, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.Sc. degree in psychology from the University of Florida where he investigated the connection between neuroanatomy and cognitive performance at the McKnight Brain Institute.
Noam's interests include cooking, traveling, science fiction, and hiking the beautiful trails in Montgomery County with his family.