22 FARRERAS
The most disabling conditions for the largest number of people
were cerebral palsy, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy,
cerebral vascular disease, and blinding diseases. The etiology of these
conditions was little understood and their manifestations complex.^21 As
a result, a three-pronged approach was adopted: 1) clinical and basic
intramural research on the etiology of these disorders and approaches
to medication and surgery for their alleviation; 2) intramural research
on “the structure, biochemistry, and physiology of the nerve cells and
fibers, the nutrition and metabolism of nervous tissue and the brain,
and the sensorimotor functions of the nervous system;” and 3) extra
mural research grants, training grants, and fellowships aimed at the
entire field of neurology and blindness.^22
Like the NIMH, the NINDB had a National Advisory Council
consisting of twelve members–six professionals and six lay members
appointed by the Surgeon General for four-year terms–who approved
and denied research and training applications and guided the insti
tute’s policy.^23 As with the NIMH, however, Congress did not appropriate
funding for the new institute–not even to appoint an institute director–
so the Advisory Council meetings, approved grants, and institute mainte
nance and upkeep fees were covered by the Office of the NIH Director.^24
In the summer of 1951, the NINDB received its first annual budget
of $1.23 million.^25 This budget, however, was part of the Office of the
NIH Director’s operating expenses and was not earmarked for the
creation or support of new research projects. Rather, it covered transfers
of existing research projects on neurological and sensory diseases that
had until then been conducted within other institutes, such as the
NIMH and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), into the NINDB program.^26
Only $40,000 of this budget was used to run the institute’s ad
ministration and the intramural program, including the appointment
of an institute director, Pearce Bailey, as well as a secretary and adminis
trative officer.^27 Bailey was the son of like named Pearce Bailey, one of
the founders of the New York Neurological Institute, who had been
president of the ANA in 1913.