Naomi Kleitman, Ph.D.

Dr. Naomi Kleitman joined NINDS in 2001 as a Program Director in Repair and Plasticity. Her interest is in spinal cord injury research and the development of successful strategies for CNS repair and restoration of function. Translation of fundamental research on neural repair and axonal growth to clinical studies that apply these basic principles is a major goal. Dr. Kleitman received a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign followed by post-doctoral work at Washington University, St. Louis. She was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine in The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis for 12 years, studying mechanisms of axonal regeneration in tissue culture and the development of populations of adult rodent and human Schwann cells for transplantation in PNS and CNS injury sites. She also served as the Scientific Liaison for the Miami Project, encouraging interaction between clinicians, rehabilitation and basic researchers, as well as informing the public, patient groups, and the media about progress in spinal cord injury research.