Advisory Council | NINDS

What is the Advisory Council?

Each Institute of the National Institutes of Health maintains a national advisory council which has two general functions: (1) to advise the Institute on policy and procedures affecting the extramural research programs and (2) to provide a second level of review for all grant and cooperative agreement applications considered by the Institute for funding. Except for fellowships, the NINDS may not award a grant unless it has been recommended for support by the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council.

The NANDS Council meets regularly three times a year: in early February, late May, and mid-September. Each meeting of the NANDS Council is about one and one half days long. A portion of this meeting is open to the public and the remainder is a closed confidential session devoted primarily to the review of applications.

In addition to application review, the NINDS Director utilizes the expertise and experience of NANDS Council members for activities such as the following:

• Program planning
• Concept clearance for NINDS initiatives
• Review of Board of Scientific Counselor reports on intramural research programs
• Review of objectives, priorities and accomplishments of the Institute's extramural program

The NANDSC provides the final review for all applications for research grants, training grants, and career development awards assigned to the NINDS, as well as for other requests for support for which Council approval is required by law.  The NANDSC also provides clearance for concepts for new NINDS research initiatives involving set-aside funds.