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NINDS Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, February 14 - 15, 2002

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Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health
National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council

Summary of Meeting1
February 14-15, 2002

The National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council was convened for its 153rd meeting on February 14-15, 2002, in Building 31, Conference Room 10, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Audrey Penn, Acting Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), served as Chairperson.

In accordance with Public Law 92-463, the meeting was:

Open: February 14, 2002 --10:35 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

for the review and discussion of program development, needs, and policy; and

Closed: February 14, 2002 - 5:30 p.m. to 6:10 p.m.

February 15, 2002 - 8:50 a.m. to 12:10 p.m.

for the review of the Board of Scientific Counselors' Reports and discussion and consideration of individual grant applications.

Council members present were:

Mr. Ronald Bartek
Dr. Keith Black
Ms. Jeanne Carpenter
Dr. Uta Francke
Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos
Dr. John Griffin
Dr. Julian Hoff
Ms. Kathy Hunter
Dr. Daniel Lowenstein
Dr. Peter MacLeish
Mr. Bradley Margus
Ms. Ellyn Phillips
Dr. Joshua Sanes
Dr. Sally Shaywitz
Dr. Ira Shoulson
Mr. Robert Waterman

Council members absent were:

Dr. Richard Tsien
Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff

Council Roster (Attachment 1)

Ex Officio Members present:

Dr. Paul Hoffman, Department of Veterans Affairs
Dr. Geoffrey Ling, Department of Defense

1For the record, it is noted that members absent themselves from the meeting when the Council is discussing applications (a) from their respective institutions or (b) in which a real or apparent conflict of interest might occur.

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Members of the public present for portions of the open meeting included:

Dr. Michael Moskowitz-Harvard Medical School
Dr. James Grotta-University of Texas Health Sciences Center
Ms. Suzi Kindregan-AT Children's Project
Ms. Stephanie Simons-National MS Society
Ms. Carol Leon-Parent
Ms. Barbara Trainor-Families of SMA
Loren Eng-FSMA
Dinakow Singh-FSMA
Ms. Dianne Flescher-Epilepsy Foundation
Dr. Merrill Mitler-Sleep Research Society
Mr. Chris Peterson-SRI
Dr. Perry Cohen-PDF

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NINDS employees present for portions of the meeting included:

Dr. Audrey S. Penn
Dr. Constance Atwell
Dr. Cheryl Kitt
Dr. Al Kerza
Dr. William Heetderks
Dr. Paul Nichols
Dr. Robert Baughman
Dr. Eugene Oliver
Dr. Alan Willard
Dr. Arlene Chiu
Ms. Joellen Harper
Dr. Toby Behar
Dr. Emmeline Edwards
Ms. Cikena Reid
Dr. Lynn Morin
Dr. John Marler
Dr. Claudia Moy
Dr. Raul Saavedra
Ms. Marian Emr
Dr. Giovanna Spinella
Dr. Scott Janis
Dr. Naomi Kleitman
Ms. Brandy Fureman
Dr. Danilo Tagle
Dr. Jill Heemskerk
Ms. Dianna Jessee
Ms. Quandra Scudder
Dr. Peter Kozlowski
Dr. J. Paul Taylor
Ms. Margo Warren
Dr. Story Landis
Dr. John Hallenbeck
Ms. Pam Jones
Dr. Henry McFarland
Dr. Thomas Miller
Dr. Daofen Chen
Dr. Ursula Utz
Mr. Jeff Domanski
Ms. Rebecca Claycamp
Mr. Gahan Breithaupt
Ms. Nena Wells
Dr. David Eckstein
Dr. David Jett
Dr. Paul Sheehy
Dr. Lillian Pubols
Ms. Ruth Linn
Mr. Andy Baldus
Dr. Robert Zalutsky
Dr. Paul Scott
Mr. Paul Girolami
Dr. Diane Murphy
Dr. Henry Khachaturian
Dr. Meredith Temple-O'Connor
Dr. Deborah Hirtz
Ms. Sylvia Parsons
Dr. Tom Jacobs
Ms. Patricia Turner
Dr. Yuan Liu
Dr. Meenaxi Hiremath
Ms. Karen Bateman
Dr. Laura Mamounas
Dr. Ernest Lyons
Dr. Andrea Sawczuk
Dr. Bernard Ravina
Dr. Melinda Kelley
Dr. Barbara Radzisewska
Mr. Peter Gilbert
Dr. Katrina Gwinn-Hardy
Mr. Phillip Wiethorn
Ms. Liz Geiger
Mr. Jim Stables
Dr. Ronnie Horner
Ms. Margaret Jacobs
Mr. Levon Parker
Dr. Richard Crosland
Dr. Sussan Paydar
Ms. Shannon Garnett
Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck
Ms. Carol Rowan
Dr. Gaya Jeyarasasingam
Mr. Paul Myers
Dr. Susan Daniels
Dr. Gabriel Leblanc
Mr. George Bramhall
Ms. Nancy Hart
Ms. Maureen Hambrecht

Other Federal employees present for portions of the meeting included:

Dr. Walter Schaffer, OD
Dr. Christopher Platt, NSF
Dr. Carolyn Wilson-FDA
Dr. Donald Fink-FDA
Dr. Barbara Wilcox-FDA
Dr. Nancy Markovitz-FDA
Dr. Malcolm Moos-FDA
Dr. Cheri Wiggs-CSR
Dr. John Bishop-CSR
Dr. Joanne Fujii-CSR
Dr. Sherry Stuesse-CSR
Dr. Gillian Einstein-CSR
Dr. Michael Nunn-CSR

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I. Call to Order and Opening Remarks

Dr. Audrey Penn, Acting Director, NINDS, welcomed Council members, guests and staff to the 153rd Council meeting and introduced the new Council members: Mr. Ronald Bartek, Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos, Ms. Ellyn Phillips, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Dr. Ira Shoulson, Mr. Robert Waterman, and Dr. Geoffrey Ling.

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II. Report of the Associate Director for Extramural Research

Government in the Sunshine Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Acts

Dr. Constance Atwell, Associate Director for Extramural Research, NINDS, reviewed the Government in the Sunshine Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Acts, which require the Department of Health and Human Services to open to public observation as many advisory committee meetings as possible, including the National Advisory Councils. The NANDS Council meeting was open to the public, except during the review of the Board of Scientific Counselors' Reports and the review of grant applications. Notice of the date and place for the Council meeting was published in the Federal Register thirty days prior to the meeting.

Conflict of Interest

The regulations concerning conflict of interest were reviewed. Council members were reminded that materials furnished for review purposes and discussion during the closed portions of the meeting are considered privileged information. All Council members present signed a statement certifying that they did not participate in the discussion of, or vote on, an application from any organization, institution, or any part of a university system, of which they are an employee, consultant, officer, director or trustee, or in which they have a financial interest. Institutions or organizations which have multi-campus institution waivers, or are specifically designated as separate organizations under 18 U.S.C. 208(a), are exempt from this provision.

Consideration of Minutes of Previous Council Meeting

The minutes of the Council meeting of October 8, 2001, were considered and accepted as written.

Consideration of Dates for Future Council Meetings

The following dates for future Council meetings were reconfirmed:

  • May 30-31, 2002 (Thursday and Friday)
  • September 12-13, 2002 (Thursday and Friday)
  • February 6-7, 2003 (Thursday and Friday)
  • May 22-23, 2003 (Thursday and Friday)
  • September 18-19, 2003 (Thursday and Friday)

The following dates were confirmed:

  • February 12-13, 2004 (Thursday and Friday)
  • May 27-28, 2004 (Thursday and Friday)
  • September 9-10, 2004 (Thursday and Friday)
Other Items

Council General Recommendations-Dr. Atwell described proposed changes to the Council General Recommendations. These are the general guidelines for administrative actions that may be taken by program staff without prior approval by Council. In addition to the editorial changes, there is a substantive change to Item 8 as follows: "Council approval is not required for supplements under the NIH programs to promote reentry into biomedical and behavioral research careers and to increase involvement in biomedical research of underrepresented minorities and individuals with disabilities." In addition, the wording on the Council's expedited awards process has been updated. A motion was made and seconded to approve the changes in the Council General Recommendations. A copy of the approved Council General Recommendations is attached as Appendix 1.

Reports Book-The Reports Book consists of applications that have been designated for funding since the last Council meeting. It includes interim actions that have been taken and the status of applications that were identified for High Program Priority. Dr. Atwell encouraged Council to communicate their preferences for funding to the staff.

Expedited Review Process-Council approved 151 applications for expedited payment. The staff finalized funding decisions on 114 grants, and 40 have already been awarded.

New Staff-Dr. Atwell introduced the following new staff positions: Mr. Gahan Breithaupt, formerly DER Acting Deputy Director, is now serving as Acting Executive Officer; Dr. Alan Willard from the Scientific Review Branch, now DER Acting Deputy Director; Program Directors in the Office of Minority Health and Research, Dr. David Jett and Dr. Ronnie Horner; Dr. Susan Daniels, Program Analyst for the Neurodegeneration Cluster; and Mr. Jeff Domanski, Grants Management Specialist in the Grants Management Branch.

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III. Report of the Acting Director, NINDS

Dr. Audrey Penn announced the following personnel changes: Dr. Eugene Major from the Intramural Division, Institute Acting Deputy Director; Gahan Breithaupt, Acting Executive Officer; Lorraine Fitzsimmons, Director of the Office of Science Policy and Planning; Song West, Chief Information Officer.

Budget-NINDS' budget for FY 2002 was not available until January, at which time NINDS received a 12.9 % increase. Fiscal Year 2003 is the last year of the doubling of NIH's budget. NINDS' increase is proposed in the President's budget at 8.4%. Some reasons for the reduction in the increase are the need for bioterrorism funds and the increase in the NCI budget. Most of the other institutes received the same percentage increase as NINDS. The NIH appropriations hearing is scheduled for March and April. The NINDS budget for FY 2002 is $1.3 billion. Most of those funds are committed to funding non-competing grants. Dr. Penn reviewed the breakdown of the total budget. Seventy-five percent of the budget is designated for payline grants and 25% for other types of research, such as High Program Priorities and Clinical Trials. The payline has been set at the 23rd percentile. Nonmodular grants are cut by 10% on average and modular grants by 5%. The success rate will be approximately 26%, and the number of applications is expected to increase. There was a question about the 9% increase in the Intramural budget. Dr. Penn responded that OD-NIH, as well as NINDS, recommended an increase in the Intramural budget, and that NINDS had been targeting increases in the Intramural budget by 10% - 11% in the last few years.

Loan Repayment Program-The program has been published in the NIH Guide. The applications, due at the end of February, will be processed by the NIH Intramural Loan Repayment office. The loan repayment program is a contract between the applicant and NIH. NINDS is targeting career development and fellowship awardees and first-time awardees of R01s. The applicant must be an NIH awardee, with at least two years remaining on the grant. The program is directed at patient-oriented researchers, basic and clinical pediatric researchers, and researchers in minority health and diversity. NINDS expects to fund 15 applications.

Translational Research-There will be presentations later in the agenda from Dr. Robert Baughman and Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck on the current status of NINDS's development of programs for translational research. The Institute is interested in moving into translational research and there are demands from the research field for support for more of this.

Director Searches - There is no new information on the search for the NIH Director. The NINDS Director search is underway. Several candidates will return for meetings in March.

Following Dr. Penn's presentation, a question was raised about the split between payline and non-payline grants. Dr. Penn responded that several factors went into the decision to split the budget 75%/25%: the four year average length of grants that needed to be funded in FY2002; the average cost per grant; the increase in the success rate; and the recision of administrative cuts as well as the set-aside funds. Dr. Paul Hoffman asked about the budget impact of required bioterrorism measures at NIH. Dr. Penn responded that to date, the major impact has been on NIAID's budget. Since many of the toxins are neurotoxins, NINDS may be able to contribute toward bioterrorism research. Dr. Atwell mentioned that since NINDS' budget will not be increased by the expected 15%, NINDS would not be in a position to offer new infrastructure supplement grants that had been considered if more funds were available. Dr. Major said there would be opportunities to work with NIAID on bioterrorism initiatives in the following months. A copy of Dr. Penn's presentation is attached as Appendix 2.

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IV. Collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration

Dr. Arlene Chiu announced that, after a number of discussions, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between NINDS and the FDA. The MOU establishes a formal collaboration between the two agencies, the goal of which is to help expedite the translation of basic research involving promising biological therapies into clinical trials and studies of treatment of neurological diseases. Dr. Chiu's co-chair at the FDA, Dr. Donald Fink, was introduced, along with several members of his staff. Dr. Shoulson congratulated NINDS and encouraged the Institute to develop more collaborative relationships with other Federal agencies.

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V. Update on the Stroke Progress Review Group (PRG)

Dr. Thomas Jacobs, Program Director, Neural Environment Cluster, reviewed the background and goals of the Stroke PRG and announced the publication of the PRG's scientific recommendations. The goal of the Stroke PRG was to identify and prioritize the research needs and opportunities in stroke research and to identify the resources necessary to implement the priorities. The Group's extensive planning efforts culminated in the Stroke PRG Roundtable Meeting, which was held in July 2001. The three-day meeting resulted in the final planning document. Dr. Jacobs requested Council concurrence to adopt the planning document, which will be used to guide NINDS initiatives.

Dr. Michael Moskowitz, Professor, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Harvard University, and Co-Chair of the Stroke PRG Roundtable, discussed the first two of the five top priorities of the Stroke PRG: 1) Examine and change the nosology and diagnosis of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, based on gene screening and profiling technologies, and 2) Find the blood vessel-brain integrated function (neurovascular unit) and cerebral blood vessel interactions.

Dr. James Grotta, Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, and Co-Chair of the Stroke PRG, reminded the audience of the public health burden of stroke and noted that the complexity of the disease for neurologists has changed over recent years, increasing the need for more stroke specialists in the field. The final three priorities were to achieve better understanding of: 1) Blood flow perfusion, 2) Molecular and cellular pathways of injury, and 3) Stroke recovery.

Dr. John Marler, Associate Director for Clinical Trials, NINDS, reviewed the resource priorities that the Stroke PRG named, such as microarray technologies, developing better animal models, expanding brain imaging capabilities, improving clinical trial technology, improving different implementation resources, and expanding education and training. The next steps include analysis of the current stroke portfolio, conducting workshops, initiating program announcements, requests for applications and proposals, etc. The challenge is to work together, to share resources and technology, develop core centers for imaging technology and epidemiology, form networks to make clinical trials more efficient, and provide more training opportunities. All of these goals will be addressed by the stroke PRG.

Following the presentation, Dr. Griffin asked that the Executive Summary of the Stroke PRG presentation be provided to the Council members. Dr. Lowenstein asked if the issue of prevention will be covered by the review group. Dr. Grotta responded that it was a large part of the discussion and that a commitment to identify more risk factors was found to be necessary. Other questions raised the points that the blood vessel will be studied, as well as neurons, and that several other institutes were involved in the formulation of the conclusions. Dr. Penn asked the Council to accept the current report for the Institute Director's consideration. After some discussion, which included the commitment to add a greater emphasis on addressing racial disparities in the report, Dr. MacLeish moved that the Council approve the draft report with the revisions that were discussed. The motion was seconded and passed.

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VI. NINDS Translational Research Program

Dr. Robert Baughman, Associate Director for Technology Development, NINDS, explained that the effort to move into more emphasis on translational research is Institute wide and several program directors have been involved in the process. Translational research is research associated with the translation of basic science discoveries to clinical treatments. One example is the High Throughput Screening initiative. Secondary screening in mouse models and invertebrate model systems are important in translational research. Another area is new uses of existing compounds. A translational research initiative was considered timely and also necessary due to the difficulty these types of projects encounter in the existing review process. Some of the specific features of the program include making it available to all disease areas, having an investigator-initiated mechanism, and having an appropriate review system. There will be no separate funds set aside, but they will be tracked. The cooperative agreement mechanism is useful for translational research projects. To meet the need of encouraging researchers to go into translational research, use of the K01 mechanism has been proposed. The role of NINDS staff would include formulating the milestone decisions, coordinating across program areas, and ensuring data sharing. Staff would be involved in oversight, and there may also be an Institute-wide oversight committee.

Dr. Baughman explained that some of the areas currently involving translational research are stroke, pain, and epilepsy. There was a question about attracting high quality researchers, given that there is no specific set-aside. One way to address that issue is with the K01 awards. There was a question about whether the three-year period of the program announcement was enough time to accomplish the stated goals. The point was also made that the institute should be in communication with private companies that are already engaged in translational research to resolve intellectual property or other issues. A concern was raised that basic science research not be reduced. In fact, most translational research currently funded is in the area of preclinical science.

A motion was made that the Council recommend concurrence of the translational research proposal. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck, Chief, Neurogenetics Branch, Division of Intramural Research, NINDS, presented a joint intramural/extramural project on spinal muscular atrophy, which he proposed as a model for translational research funding. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) was chosen because of the severity of the disease, its relatively high incidence, and the fact that the gene has been identified and the gene product is known, resulting in leads on possible treatments. There is a gap in funding to advance research on SMA, but if progress can be made, it would have implications for other diseases.

In response to a question about whether this is a new approach, Dr. Fischbeck responded that it is goal-oriented and milestone-directed, and not reviewed solely on the merits of a hypothesis. Funding translational research directed toward a specific disease would intensify research efforts toward the goal of accelerating progress on that disease. The criteria for selecting SMA as the test case were discussed extensively.

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VII. Council Subcommittee Reports

Training and Career Development Subcommittee

Dr. Julian Hoff, Chair of the Training and Career Development Subcommittee, reported that at their meeting held the previous night, they were updated on the K awards, which had been changed last year. The committee endorsed a follow-up session to the American Neurological Association meeting held last year for K08 awardees. There was also discussion of a session for MD/PhD students who have had at least one year of neuroscience research training. Dr. Hoff also discussed the Ernest Everett Just Faculty Research Career Development Award (K01), which was originally restricted to historically black colleges and universities. The Training and Career Development Subcommittee would like to make the grant available to underrepresented minority candidates at any college or university. The Council moved, seconded, and passed unanimously the expansion of the Just Faculty Research Career Development Award. Dr. Hoff reported that the Institute has made 93 training grant awards, with a total of 452 trainees. There are 139 pre- and postdoctoral fellows.

Clinical Trials Subcommittee

Dr. Daniel Lowenstein, Chair of the Clinical Trials Subcommittee, announced that the new protocol review procedure established by the subcommittee has worked well over the past year. Dr. Lowenstein thanked Scott Janis for assembling the grant portfolio for the subcommittee. The subcommittee will make priority recommendations of the portfolio in the future.

Infrastructure, Neuroinformatics & Computational Neuroscience Subcommittee

Dr. Uta Francke, Chair of the Infrastructure, Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience Subcommittee reviewed the initiatives within the subcommittee's portfolio, including the NSF-NIH Joint Initiative on Computational Neuroscience, a joint NINDS/NIMH/NIBIB initiative on functional MRI, and the Human Brain Project, which has been active since 1995. Another program discussed was the NIH-wide, "Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative," begun in 1999, with the intent to establish five to ten centers. NINDS is funding one of these grants. There has not been an overwhelming response to these initiatives by the investigator community. The last initiative that was discussed was for the sharing and distribution of mouse models. There was a Mouse Genetics Models workshop held last week that energized the investigator community to support efforts to create neurologically relevant mouse genetic models and to develop guidelines for sharing and the distribution of the mouse models. One recommendation that came out of the workshop was to develop a website of all available mice and information on where to get them. Dr. Francke believed that mouse-sharing should take priority over the development of new models, since new models is a more complicated issue. She suggested that a group of subcommittee members be formed to develop recommendations on how to proceed.

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VIII. Summary of Workshop on Emotional and Behavioral Health in Persons with Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities

Dr. Giovanna Spinella, Program Director, Neurogenetics Cluster, NINDS, provided the background for the development of the workshop, which was a collaboration among NINDS, NIMH, NICHD, and voluntary organizations. The workshop focused on the burden of neuropsychiatric morbidity in individuals with mental retardation, and the ultimate goal was to identify the necessary steps that would result in the inclusion of mentally retarded individuals in research to promote evidence-based treatment of these individuals. Following the workshop, the Surgeon General issued a report on mental retardation, which included the workshop's recommendations. Since the workshop was held, NINDS has been discussing implementation of the recommendations. One goal that was agreed upon was to broaden publication of proceedings beyond mental retardation journals. The Institute of Medicine has assembled a review committee to look at the issues of Institutional Review Boards, consent, and ethics. NIH is developing an inter-agency committee to follow through on the recommendations. The Council moved, seconded, and passed a motion to accept the report.

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IX. Overview, Division of Intramural Research

Dr. Story Landis, Director, Division of Intramural Research (DIR), reported that DIR represents 9% of the NINDS budget, with 60 faculty. DIR includes basic and clinical research, a surgery department, and a hospital for Phase I and Phase II clinical trial patients. She described the type of research done by DIR, noting that it is divided into two administrative units: the basic neuroscience program and the clinical neuroscience program. Dr. Landis described the new staff and their locations and discussed the methodology and rationale of staff recruitment. NINDS is one of six institutes that conducts neuroscience research, with a total of approximately 200 neuroscience researchers whose collaborative efforts constitute the neuroscience community at NIH. One of the results has been the creation of a website: http://neuroscience.nih.gov. The website lists every neuroscientist on the NIH campus, and posts seminars, meetings, workshops, and journal articles. It allows for faculty searches by scientific research area. One of the outcomes of the website has been the formation of a group of scientists involved in Parkinson's disease.

Another development that involves DIR is the construction of the Porter Neuroscience Research Center. A vision of Dr. Gerry Fischbach, former Director, NINDS, and Dr. Steven Hyman, former Director, NIMH, the goal was to collect many of the neuroscience investigators together in one building and to organize them by research themes, rather than by institute. Research that involves clinical patients will not go into the building. It was not meant to be a "basic science ghetto," but a way to have basic and translational scientists share their research. The building is on schedule and on budget. Progress has been made on the creation of a governance board for the Center and on the selection of personnel that will be moved into the building. Four themes were selected for the Center: Synapses, Channels, and Circuits; Neurogenetics; Emotion and Cognition; and Development and Plasticity.

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X. Scientific Presentation: "Anatomical, Functional and Molecular Imaging of the Brain"

Dr. Alan Koretsky, Chief, Laboratory of Functional and Molecular Imaging, NINDS, and NIH MRI Research Facility, explained that Magnetic Resonance Imaging has developed into an important anatomical and functional tool for assessing the brain. A variety of results indicate that specific cellular and molecular information will be available from MRI. Most work has focused on defining information from brain regions such as cortex, white matter, or sub-cortical areas such as hippocampus. A challenge is to extend MRI to higher resolution.

Dr. Koretsky has been interested in beginning to define cortical architecture and function in the human and rodent brain. Anatomical MRI, functional MRI based on measuring some aspect of hemodynamic change during neuronal activity, and molecular imaging based on the useful biological and MRI properties of manganese ion, are proving useful. Three examples indicate that MRI will be able to define the anatomy and function of cortical structures. In the human brain, standard anatomical MRI techniques at very high resolution reveal cortical layers in area 17 of the visual cortex due to the presence of myelin. Careful analysis of high spatial and temporal resolution functional MRI of the rat somatosensory cortex can distinguish layer 4 from layers 1-3 and 5-6. Finally, Manganese Enhanced MRI can distinguish cortical layers and olfactory glomeruli in the rodent brain. These results indicate that a combination of anatomical, functional, and molecular MRI will enable experiments to probe the function of cortical structures in the brain.

This work is being done within an expanding neuroimaging program shared between NINDS and NIMH. Presently investigators in NINDS have access to state-of-the-art MRI for humans and animals. For humans, this includes standard 1.5Tesla MRI clinical systems and new 3Tesla MRI systems that have just become FDA approved for clinical use. A development project involving a new, experimental 7Tesla MRI should begin this fall. For animals, there are four MRI systems ranging from 4.7Tesla to 11.7Tesla. A new Mouse Imaging Facility offers CT, Ultrasound and Positron Emission Tomography to study the wide range of rodent models being developed relevant to neurological disorders and stroke. Indeed, the hope is that an investigator can take any specific project that requires imaging "from bench to bedside" with a consistent set of imaging tools.

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XI. Review of the Division of Intramural Research Board of Scientific Counselors' Reports

In closed session, Dr. Landis presented the findings and recommendations of the Board of Scientific Counselors based on their review of specific DIR laboratories/units during 2001. The Council discussed the reports of the Board and accepted them.

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XII. Council Review of Pending Applications

This portion of the meeting, involving specific grant review, was closed to the public. The Council gave special attention to applications from foreign institutions and other applications, which needed specific discussion.

Research Training and Career Development Programs

The Council reviewed a total of 103 research career development and institutional training grant applications; of this total, 65 applications had primary assignment to NINDS, and 51 of them (78.5 percent) were recommended for support in the amount of $22.8 million first-year direct costs. It is anticipated that, of the research career development and institutional training grants competing at this Council, NINDS will be able to pay first-year direct costs of approximately $5.7 million.

Research Grant Awards

The Council reviewed a total of 1,475 research grant applications; of this total, 970 applications had primary assignment to NINDS, and 618 of them (63.7 percent) were recommended for support in the amount of $173.5 million first-year direct costs. It is anticipated that, of the research grants competing at this Council, NINDS will be able to pay first-year direct costs of approximately $59.0 million.

Senator Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards

The Senator Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards are made to distinguished investigators who have a record of scientific excellence and productivity, who are actively pursuing an area of research of strategic importance, and who can be expected to continue to be highly productive for a seven-year period. Candidates are nominated and selected at each Council meeting. At this meeting, the Council recommended nine investigators as Javits awardees.

Small Business Innovation Research and Small Technology Transfer Award Programs

The Council reviewed a total of 123 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Technology Transfer Award (STTR) grant applications; of this total, 58 applications had primary assignment to NINDS and 41 of them (70.7 percent) were recommended for support in the amount of $7.0 million first-year direct costs. It is anticipated that, of the SBIR and STTR applications competing at this Council, NINDS will be able to pay first-year direct costs of approximately $4.5 million.

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XIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, February 15.

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We certify that, to the best of our knowledge, the foregoing minutes and attachments are accurate and complete.

_______________________________
 Constance W. Atwell, Ph.D.
Executive Secretary
National Advisory Neurological Disorders
and Stroke Council
Associate Director for Extramural Research
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

_______________________________
 Audrey S. Penn, M.D.
Acting Chairperson
National Advisory Neurological Disorders
and Stroke Council
Acting Director
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

These minutes will be formally considered by the Council at its next meeting. Corrections or notations will be incorporated in the minutes of that meeting.

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A complete, printed copy of the Council minutes, including attachments, may be obtained by contacting:

Mrs. Ruth Linn
Committee Management Specialist
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Neuroscience Center, Suite 3309
6001 Executive Boulevard, MSC 9531
Rockville, MD 20852-9531
(301) 496-9248
(301) 402-4370 (FAX)
linnr@ninds.nih.gov

Last updated February 09, 2005