Irene (Amy) Bany Adams, Ph.D. - Chairperson
Dr. Adams became Acting Director of NINDS in January 2026. NINDS funds both research on basic neuroscience and studies of hundreds of neurological disorders. As Acting Director, Dr. Adams oversees an annual budget of $1.6 billion and a staff of more than 900 scientists, physicians-scientists, administrators.
Robert Brown, Jr., D.Phil., M.D. (2025)
Dr. Robert Brown is the Director of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Program for Neurotherapeutics. From 2008-2018, Dr. Brown served as Professor and Chair of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. His clinical interests include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), muscular dystrophy, and neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Brown served as Co-Chair of the Board of Scientific Counsellors at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke from 2018-2020. Dr. Brown has published numerous research articles, books, and reviews and received many honors throughout a career spanning over 40 years. Dr. Brown earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975.
Stuart Hoffman, Ph.D. - Ex Officio Member
Dr. Stuart Hoffman is the Senior Health Science Officer for TBI for the Office of Research and Development (ORD), Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). He is responsible for supporting the National Research Action Plan activities; serving as VA Lead for the joint VA/Department of Defense Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC); providing overall direction, program planning, development and implementation for ORD TBI research; coordinating with ORD leads and Federal partners in other high priority nationwide efforts in brain health; promoting data sharing in TBI research; and to expand the clinical trials network nationally to improve TBI treatments and diagnostics for Veterans.
Dr. Hoffman joined the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service in ORD in February of 2010 where he served as the Scientific Program Manager for Brain Health and Injury. His accomplishments included doubling the RRD TBI portfolio, creating a special emphasis area for proposals investigating the long-term effects of prescribed and nonprescribed drugs on outcome from TBI, and oversight of two successful research centers. Dr. Hoffman received his Ph.D. in behavioral and molecular neuroscience at Rutgers University in 1995 and completed his postdoctoral training in pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1997. Dr. Hoffman was a full-time Emory University faculty member from 1998-2006. Immediately prior to joining the VA in 2010. Dr. Hoffman was the Research Director for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and more than 35 years of translational neuroscience research experience that focused on TBI therapeutics.
Jane Larkindale, D.Phil. (2026)
Dr. Jane Larkindale is the Vice President of Clinical Science at PepGen Inc. Prior to PepGen, Dr. Larkindale worked as the Executive Director for Rare Disease Cures Accelerator- Data and Analytics Platform at the Critical Path Institute. Dr. Larkindale has expertise across rare diseases including neuromuscular diseases such as Duchenne and Myotonic muscular dystrophy, and Friedreich’s ataxia. She is a member of FARA Scientific Advisory Board and a member of Australasian Friedreich’s Ataxia Gene Therapy Consortium. Dr. Larkindale completed her D. Phil. in 2001 in the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford University and is a Rhodes Scholar.
Jin-Moo Lee, M.D., Ph.D. (2026)
Dr. Jin-Moo Lee is the Andrew B. & Gretchen P. Jones Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri and the Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurologist in Chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Prior to becoming Chair, Dr. Lee served as the Co-Chair for the Stroke Care Clinical Program at BJC Healthcare in Missouri. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on pathophysiology and cellular/molecular mechanisms involved in brain injury following acute ischemia and chronic neurodegeneration. Dr. Lee has contributed to many articles and peer-reviewed publications. He earned an M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in 1993 and is the recipient of a Jacob Javits Investigator Award.
Henry L. Paulson, M.D., Ph.D. (2026)
Dr. Henry Paulson is the Lucile Groff Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan and was a Research Professor at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Paulson’s interests concern the causes and treatments of age-related neurogenerative diseases, with an emphasis on polyglutamine disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and frontotemporal dementia. Dr. Paulson is a NINDS Landis Outstanding Mentor Award recipient as well as an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. (in Cell Biology) from the Yale University School of Medicine.
Terry Rauch, Ph.D. - Ex Officio Member
Dr. Terry Rauch is the Director of Medical Research and Development (R&D) at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) where he is responsible for strategic planning, analysis and oversight of the Defense Health Program R&D portfolio that includes combat trauma, infectious diseases, neurosciences, rehabilitation, and military social-behavioral dimensions. Dr. Rauch has over 40 years of experience in many facets of the Military Health System and has held numerous senior level positions in the Army and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Dr. Rauch received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati, where he also earned his Ph.D. in biology and psychology. Dr. Rauch has served as an expert medical witness for the U.S. Department of Justice as well as private industry on anthrax vaccine safety and efficacy and authored numerous scientific and technical publications in the field of psychology, neurosciences, and national security matters.