Dr. Linda Porter directs the Office of Pain Policy at NINDS. In this capacity, she provides guidance and coordination of the NIH pain research programs through collaboration with the NIH Pain Consortium and supports the activities and programs of the consortium. Dr. Porter also serves as the Designated Federal Official for the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, an entity established though the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 to address issues relevant to the federal pain research portfolio.

Dr. Porter joined the NINDS in 2003 as a Program Director in Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience. She received a B.Sc. in Physical Therapy from McGill University. Her clinical practice focused on developmental disabilities. Dr. Porter later earned a PhD in neuroanatomy from Boston University School of Medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University, she trained with Hiroshi Asanuma in neurophysiology of sensory-motor systems. Dr. Porter was on the faculty of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) for 15 years before joining the NINDS. During those years, she directed an NIH funded research program aimed at elucidating mechanisms of sensory-motor integration at the cortical level. Dr. Porter also studied the effects of various neuromodulators on developing cortical neurons and their neuroprotective influence over neurons in the mature cortex. She taught in the Graduate Neuroscience Program and the School of Medicine at USUHS.

Presentation: The NIH HEAL Initiative – Helping to End Addiction Long-Term:
Accelerating Scientific Solutions to Stem the National Opioid Epidemic

This presentation will cover the governance structure and history of the NIH HEAL initiative, as well as its main objectives and roadmap to achieving these objectives. We will discuss the strategic direction of the various components of the HEAL initiative as well as specific funding opportunities.

Outline:

Summary of NIH HEAL initiative development
Governance structure of the HEAL initiative
Objectives and scope of the initiative
Research plan and strategic direction of the initiative
Brief description of HEAL funding opportunities