The Division of Intramural Research (DIR) is among the largest neuroscience research centers in the world. It is home to more than 500 scientists who conduct leading-edge basic, translational, and clinical research in neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery in Bethesda, Maryland.
NINDS intramural scientists cover a broad range of neuroscience research, including molecular biophysics, synapses and circuits, neuronal development, integrative neuroscience, neurogenetics, neuroimmunology, neuro-oncology, brain imaging, and neurological disorders.
Program Highlights
- Over 40 Principal Investigators lead research programs across the neurosciences
- Focus on high-risk, high-reward science
- Cutting edge facilities and scientific and clinical resources
- Training opportunities for all scientific and clinical career stages
- Opportunities to attend neuroscience lectures and seminars, engage with renowned experts and guest speakers, as well as build collaborations among peers, all aimed at expanding knowledge, challenging perspectives, and fostering growth.
The DIR supports and offers pre- and postdoctoral programs in both laboratory and clinical medicine, collaborations, jointly sponsored seminar series and special interest groups. Unique resources of the Intramural program include access to the NIH Clinical Center, which is a hospital totally dedicated to clinical research, and the NIH Porter Neuroscience Research Center, which integrates neuroscience researchers across 13 NIH Institutes and transcends disciplinary boundaries.
NINDS investigators contribute to a vital and growing neuroscience research community at the NIH. The NIH DIR’s unique funding structure provides investigators with the stability, flexibility, synergistic environment, and resources to conduct distinctive long-term and high-risk, high-reward science that breaks new ground, defines scientific excellence, and improves human health.
Scientific Director and Senior Investigator for the Division of Intramural Research
Office of the Scientific Director (OSD)
Jeffrey S. Diamond, Ph.D.
Scientific Director for the Division of Intramural Research and Senior Investigator
E-mail: NINDS Office of the Scientific Director
Phone: (301) 435-2232
Address: Office of the Scientific Director, NINDS, 35A Convent Dr., Rm. GF-144, MSC 3716, Bethesda, MD 20892
The Office of the Scientific Director (OSD) oversees, coordinates, and supports research activities in the Division of Intramural Research, including providing senior leadership and enabling the allocation of resources, planning, evaluation, and implementation research programs and core facilities and fostering a nurturing environment for trainee and faculty development and research capacity building.
- Basic research pursues an understanding of the normal and abnormal structure and activities of the human nervous system.
- Translational research applies the ideas, insights, and discoveries generated through basic science to potential new diagnostics and therapies for human disease and bridges basic and clinical research.
Key OSD Contacts
Jeffrey Diamond, Ph.D., Scientific Director
Lucy R. Forrest, D.Phil., Deputy Scientific Director
R. Benjamin Free, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Science Operations
Rachael Schacherer, Chief of Staff, OSD
Faith Plante, Ph.D., Director, Office of Training and Education
Sue Ano, Ph.D., Director, Technology Transfer Office
Nancy Dillion Hitt, V.M.D., Acting Director, Animal Health Care Section
Clinical Director of the Division of Intramural Research
Office of the Clinical Director (OCD)
Avindra Nath, M.D.
Clinical Director for the Division of Intramural Research and Senior Investigator
E-mail: Office of the Clinical Director
Phone: (301) 496-1561
Address: Office of the Clinical Director, NINDS, 10 Center Drive, Bldg. 10, Rm. 7C103 Mail Stop 1430, Bethesda, MD 20892
The NINDS Office of the Clinical Director (OCD) is focused on new approaches to solving and treating neurologic diseases. It supports the Clinical Neurosciences Program from bench to bedside, integrating every aspect of clinical research to harness the transformational power of the intramural NINDS research protocols. Physician-scientists and clinical research teams seek to provide patients with the highest level of care while offering the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of clinical studies. A large number of clinical studies are currently ongoing in a variety of neurological disorders; details of which can be accessed through ClinicalTrials. The program also offers a unique environment for clinicians and physician-scientists working within the NIH Clinical Center, the nation’s largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research, and a unique training environment for the next generation of clinician-scientists.
Key OCD Contacts
Avindra Nath, M.D., Clinical Director
Laruen Reoma, M.D., Deputy Clinical Director and Director, Clinical Trials Unit
Elizabeth Bartrum, N.P., Chief of Staff, OCD
Warren Brown, Program Analyst