EPILOGUE 301Epilogue: Bridge To The Present
The intramural program at the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), one of the largest basic and clinical
neuroscience programs in the world, has always been highly visible.
According to Lewis P. Rowland, in his history of the institute, NINDS
at 50,* five investigators from the NINDS intramural program have
won Lasker Awards–one of the country’s most prestigious awards in
biomedical research–and one has been awarded the Nobel Prize. But
even those who have not won renown for their discoveries have made
major contributions to the advancement of the neurosciences by train
ing, mentoring, and launching the careers of the next generation of
biomedical scientists.
The types of programs in the NINDS intramural division have
always been diverse. Some have been basic science investigations, based
in laboratories on the Bethesda campus or in buildings nearby. Some
have been conducted in the field, such as Nancy Wexler’s investigations
into the genetic origins of Huntington’s disease on Lake Maracaibo in
Venezuela. Clinical investigations, in the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Clinical Center or in nearby hospitals, have existed since the be
ginning of the institute’s history.
Intramural programs at the NINDS have also been interdisciplinary
from the beginning. In 1951, when Pearce Bailey arrived as the first
director of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blind
ness (NINDB), he discovered that the NIH would provide administra
tive funds for the fledgling institute, but no money for training and
research. For the first several years, he had to depend upon the National*Lewis P. Rowland, NINDS at 50: An Incomplete History Celebrating the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,
October 2001, NIH Pub. 01-4161.