On July 23-24, NINDS will host its 2024 Nonprofit Forum, which brings together the neuroscience community, including nonprofit and patient advocacy organizations, professional societies focused on neurological disorders and neuroscience research, people with lived experience of neurological disorders, NINDS staff, researchers, academia, and other federal partners, to build connections, learn from one another, and continue to make progress together.
Director's Messages
On June 17-18, NIH will host the 10th Annual BRAIN Initiative Conference. This year’s conference is an opportunity to reflect on advances made by a decade of BRAIN-funded neuroscience and neurotechnology research and to look toward the future.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic disease that impacts millions of people worldwide. The recently released ME/CFS Research Roadmap, along with new research findings from NINDS- and NIH-funded studies, should move us closer to understanding ME/CFS and identifying treatments to help those affected by the disease.
May is National Stroke Awareness month. This month, I want to highlight recent stroke research and some of the many ways we have been working to promote stroke awareness, including our new NINDS stroke resource hub, which brings all of our public education resources and information about stroke to one place.
On March 23, Congress passed and the President signed the final set of spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The total appropriation for NINDS is $2,689,925,000 (including funds from the 21st Century Cures Act), a decrease of 4.4% compared to FY 2023.
April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness month. NINDS is the primary NIH institute for Parkinson’s disease research, and we are working to catalyze progress through basic, translational, and clinical research programs aiming to better understand, diagnose, and treat Parkinson’s disease.
In February, NIH held the 5th Annual NIH HEAL Initiative Scientific Meeting. More than 800 researchers, NIH leadership and staff, people with lived experience, community partners, and other collaborators from across the country participated to share exciting research advances, including novel approaches to treat chronic pain.
NINDS is excited to participate in Brain Awareness Week during March 11-17.
The National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council met virtually from February 14-15, 2024. The NANDS Council is composed of highly accomplished scientists and clinicians as well as members of the public, such as representatives from patient groups. Together, these Council members bring broad expertise and experience to guide NINDS on program planning, policies, and research priorities. They also provide a second level of review for all grants and cooperative agreements that NINDS is considering for funding and review ongoing programs in both the extramural and intramural research programs.
As we head into the new year at NINDS, it’s time again to reflect on all that has come and gone in the past twelve months. Even as we face complex challenges in neuroscience research and the diseases and conditions we hope to improve, I am proud of the progress we and our many partners have achieved.