Today, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) announced the selection of Michelle Jones-London, Ph.D., as the Institute’s first Associate Director for Programs to Enhance the Neuroscience Workforce.
Dr. Jones-London has been at NINDS for 19 years and most recently served as the Chief of the Office of Programs to Enhance Neuroscience (OPEN) Workforce Diversity, directing diversity training and workforce development programs and overseeing the Institute’s diversity outreach initiatives. Her strategy to enhance the diversity of NINDS-supported researchers has included interventions that connect programs across critical transition points and activities/workshops to assist trainees with the professional development skills and scientific networks and community to achieve their goals.
In her new role, Dr. Jones-London will lead a team dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion across NINDS and the neuroscience workforce by focusing on three key areas. The first is to improve neuroscience research and the Nation’s neurological health through neuroscience research training and career development programs throughout the country and in the NINDS intramural research program; the second is to promote a welcoming environment for all members of the internal NINDS workforce to advance the Institute’s mission; and third is to use evidence-based approaches to catalyze cultures of inclusive excellence in the neuroscience research community.
Dr. Jones-London earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Following postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Jones-London came to NIH in 2004 as an Emerging Leader Fellow. She worked on a range of programs and initiatives across the Department of Health and Human Services, including in the Center for Scientific Review, FDA Office of Women's Health Science Program, and the Immediate Office of the Secretary, Intergovernmental/Tribal Affairs Office.
Dr. Jones-London has held leadership roles in a number of trans-NIH efforts, including providing oversight for the NIH Blueprint & BRAIN Initiative® ENDURE and DSPAN (F99/K00) programs, the BRAIN Initiative® Diversity K99/R00, serving as a Project Scientist for the NIH National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), and being part of the leadership team for NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST).