NANDSC Membership Roster

Dr. Koroshetz became Director of NINDS in June 2015. NINDS funds both research on basic neuroscience and studies of hundreds of neurological disorders. As Director, Dr. Koroshetz oversees an annual budget of $1.6 billion and a staff of more than 900 scientists, physicians-scientists, administrators.

Dr. Christopher Bever is a professor in the departments of Neurology and Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He is also the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence, East, and Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the Baltimore VA Maryland Health Care System. Dr. Bever earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester in New York. He is a member of the American Neurological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Neurology. His research focuses on developing therapies to treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. In addition, he is working with colleagues to develop robots to help with rehabilitation for neurological conditions.

Amy Brin is the Executive Director and CEO of the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF), where she is furthering her commitment to the pediatric neurology community. She has established CNF as a convening patient advocacy organization across 300 disease states, driving impactful patient education and support programming. Prior to becoming CEO of CNF, Ms. Brin served as an Advance Practice Nurse with BlueGrass Care Navigators. She is also the lead pediatric provider for community and tertiary care programs while also directing daily clinical operations. Ms. Brin has experience with strategic planning and crisis management and has participated in grant reviews with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Genetic Services Branch. She is Board-certified in Pediatrics as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and is Chair of the Epilepsy Leadership Council. She earned a Master of Science degree in Nursing from Vanderbilt University in 2007.

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.

Dr. Yishi Jin is a Distinguished Professor and the Co-Director for the Kavli Institute of Brain and Mind at University of California San Diego. In her previous role at the University of California San Diego, she was a Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences. Dr. Jin’s laboratory focuses on neural development and regeneration in nematodes and studies the communication of neurons, formation of synapses, role of neural circuitry in controlling movement and regeneration of axons. Dr. Jin is a member of the Society of Neuroscience and Genetics Society of America and has contributed to many s scholarly publications throughout her career. Dr. Jin completed a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the University of California Berkeley in 1991.

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.

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.

Dr. John Maunsell is the Albert D. Lasker Professor of Neurobiology and Director of the Grossman Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Dr. Maunsell previously worked as a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. His research and scholarly interest areas include attention, vision, cerebral cortex, computation and optogenetics. Dr. Maunsell has published numerous research articles in the Journal of Neuroscience, Nature, and Visual Neuroscience throughout his career. He has received many awards, including grant funding from the NIH since the late 1980s. Dr. Maunsell is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Society for Neuroscience. He earned his Ph.D. in Biology at the California Institute of Technology in 1982.

Dr. Louise McCullough is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center McGovern Medical School. She is also Chief of the Neurology Service at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center. Previously, Dr. McCullough was Professor and Director of Stroke Research and Education at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Dr. McCullough is a world leader in the area of cerebral vascular disease and was the recipient of an NINDS Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award. She currently serves as a member of the American Heart Association Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee as well as the Northeast Cerebrovascular Consortium. Dr. McCullough has authored or co-authored over 200 papers, received many honors and awards, and given numerous presentations both nationally and internationally. Dr. McCullough received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Connecticut in 1992 and her M.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1996.

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.

Dr. Gina Poe is Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her laboratory focuses primarily on the mechanisms by which sleep traits serve learning and memory consolidation. Memories are encoded by the pattern of synaptic connections between neurons and memory difficulties involved in post-traumatic stress disorder, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and even autism involve abnormalities in the sleep-dependent memory consolidation process. Dr. Poe’s broad knowledge of neuroscience, psychiatry, and molecular/integrative physiology will be extremely valuable in Council deliberations. Dr. Poe received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Ekemini Riley is Founder and CEO of the Coalition for Aligning Science, LLC. She is the Managing Director of the Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP) global initiative seeking to advance targeted basic research for Parkinson's Disease. Prior to becoming the CEO of the Coalition for Aligning Science, Dr. Riley spent 6 years at the Milken Institute spearheading and designing the plans for a philanthropically funded $12M Neurofibromatosis gene therapy initiative, aimed at funding novel proof-of-concept studies. She has experience with bringing diverse groups together to design solutions and work towards common goals across nonprofit, academia, government, pharma and philanthropy. She led a convening that resulted in a citywide organ donation awareness campaign, Play It Forward Pittsburgh. Dr. Riley received her Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from University of Maryland 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.

Dr. Timothy Ryan is a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medical College. and a HHMI Janelia Senior Fellow. The focus of his laboratory is the study of the molecular basis of synaptic transmission in the mammalian brain. The laboratory’s primary interests lie in understanding the regulation of vesicle traffic in presynaptic terminals, and how this traffic impacts presynaptic function. His research areas include membrane biology, molecular and cellular basis of disease, molecular neuroscience, optical methods, and structural biology. He received an NINDS Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award in 2016. Dr. Ryan’s subject matter expertise and his familiarity with NINDS procedures will be invaluable in Council deliberations. Dr. Ryan received his Ph.D. from Cornell University.