National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

![Mary Lasker helped Sen. Claude Pepper present the case to the government for a national institute for cancer, for heart disease, and for neurological disorders. She collected data and found experts.[9]](/Images/godic/202501/29/Mary_Lasker0412.jpg")
![Pearce Bailey, the first director of NINDB, was the son of Pearce Bailey, one of the founders of the New York Neurological Institute.[13]](/Images/godic/202501/29/PearceBailey0412.jpg")

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It conducts and funds research on brain and nervous system disorders and has a budget of just over US$1.5 billion. The mission of NINDS is "to reduce the burden of neurological disease—a burden borne by every age group, every segment of society, and people all over the world". NINDS has established two major branches for research: an extramural branch that funds studies outside the NIH, and an intramural branch that funds research inside the NIH. Most of NINDS' budget goes to fund extramural research. NINDS' basic science research focuses on studies of the fundamental biology of the brain and nervous system, genetics, neurodegeneration, learning and memory, motor control, brain repair, and synapses. NINDS also funds clinical research related to diseases and disorders of the brain and nervous system, e.g. AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.