The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the leading supporter of biomedical research in the world. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NINDS mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
NINDS conducts and supports basic, translational, and clinical research on neural disorders ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, as well as other conditions such as pain. Researchers supported by NINDS also investigate normal nervous system development and function so that problems can be detected early and potential treatments devised before symptoms begin. Much of this work relies on animal models to understand how particular interventions might work in humans or what mechanisms underlie particular diseases or disorders.
In addition to its intramural program at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, which includes laboratories, a clinical center for patients with neurodegenerative disorders, and offices for management and administrative staff; NINDS has field offices across the country that interact directly with researchers through cooperative agreements and extramural grants programs.