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.
- For over a century, NIH scientists have paved the way for important discoveries that improve health and save lives. In fact, 156 Nobel Prize winners have received support from NIH. Their studies have led to the development of MRI, understanding of how viruses can cause cancer, insights into cholesterol control, and knowledge of how our brain processes visual information, among dozens of other advances.
- 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.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (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 support this mission, NINDS:
- Supports and performs basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience research through grants-in-aid, contracts, scientific meetings, and through research in its own laboratories, and clinics.
- Funds and conducts research training and career development programs to increase basic, translational and clinical neuroscience expertise and ensure a vibrant, talented, and diverse work force.
- Promotes the timely dissemination of scientific discoveries and their implications for neurological health to the public, health professionals, researchers, and policy-makers.
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.
The Child Neurologist Career Development Program-K12 funds exceptional, customized research training for pediatric neurologists or graduates of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Scholars receive a three-year intensive, clinically relevant, basic and/or patient-oriented research mentorship at their home institution. A team of national experts in pediatric neurology and neuroscience provide additional mentoring and career development.