1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Please use your congressional authority to investigate why Dr. Walter Koroshetz was not reappointed as director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke despite receiving support from the NIH review panel and endorsement from NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. This decision harms every American who has experienced a neurologic injury or disease, like Alzheimer's disease, stroke, concussion, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, headache, and migraine. Congress must step in immediately to determine why this happened and how to reverse it. In the 10 years of Dr. Koroshetz’s leadership, NINDS has achieved remarkable breakthroughs that have directly benefited millions of Americans. His tenure saw the advancement for stroke treatment, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease symptoms, and gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy. He played pivotal roles in the NIH BRAIN Initiative, the Traumatic Brain Injury Center collaborative effort, the RECOVER initiative to study long COVID, and the HEAL initiative to end addiction. Dr. Koroshetz’s departure would leave 14 of NIH's 27 institutes and centers without permanent leadership, creating significant uncertainty in the neuroscience community and for the patients who depend on this research. There is no clear succession plan for NINDS leadership. I ask that you investigate this decision with HHS, demand transparency in future leadership decisions at NINDS, and work to reverse this harmful decision. Americans deserve answers about why proven, effective leadership in neurological research and other NIH institutes are being disrupted without a plan for the future.