National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
- The National Institutes of Health is made up of 27 different components called Institutes and Centers. Each has its own specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems. All but three of these components receive their funding directly from Congress, and administrate their own budgets. NIH leadership plays an active role in shaping the agency’s research planning, activities, and outlook.
Est. 1950
The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. To accomplish this goal the NINDS supports and conducts basic, translational, and clinical research on the normal and diseased nervous system. The Institute also fosters the training of investigators in the basic and clinical neurosciences, and seeks better understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders.
The program, a nationalized version of the former Neurological Sciences Academic Development Awards (NSADA) established in the early 1990s, supports early career development of committed, independent physician-scientists, regardless of their home institution.
We fund mentoring at the scholar’s home institution and by a national community of experts. We also support our applicants not selected for K12 funding through a year-long curriculum and through access to CNCDP faculty who provide career development advice. The CNCDP program succeeds when funded scholars and non-funded applicants alike attain individual K awards or equivalents.