# NANDSC Working Group for Health Disparities and Inequities in Neurological Disorders

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**Attention:**

Please note the following information is being migrated to the NINDS Health Equity Strategic Planning page. The findings and recommendations of this Working Group (WG) were approved by NINDS Advisory Council on February 2, 2022.  Any additional updates related to this plan will be made available soon.

video

*(Please note this video starts at the 1:08:40 time mark.)*

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## Background

The NINDS is deeply committed to the elimination of all health disparities and inequities in neurological conditions and care through the funding of innovative research, from basic science through implementation/dissemination, aimed at identifying, monitoring and targeting biologic, environmental, social, behavioral, and healthcare system factors related to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic location, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, educational attainment, age, and disability, that confer neurologic disease and its treatment disproportionately and adversely.

In 2010, the NINDS organized a workgroup of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council to generate recommendations on how the institute should address disparities and inequities in neurological disorders (2011 Report of the NINDS Advisory Panel on Health Disparities Research**(pdf, 200 KB)). This workgroup recommended that a transparent and systematic approach be developed to enumerate the issues and guide funding decisions. Based on these recommendations, in 2021 the NINDS/Office of Global Health and Health Disparities (OGHHD) in the Division of Clinical Research (DCR) led a strategic planning process to guide NINDS’s research efforts in this space for the next 5-10 years. It was NINDS’s goal that this process be data-driven, standardized, and transparent, and reflect a wide range of perspectives and stakeholders interested in the elimination of disparities and inequities in neurological care, outcomes, treatment, access and provision of services, and research.

## Charge of the Committee

The new (2021) NANDS Working Group will provide scientific guidance via NANDS Council to NINDS on how best to advance research on health disparities and health equity, with a focus on addressing biologic, socio-demographic, economic and other determinants of health.

Consistent with this charge, this NANDS-WG will:

I. Review and assist in the dissemination of the request for information (RFI). The purpose of the RFI is to obtain community/stakeholder input regarding areas of disparity/inequity in neurological disorders, care/services and opportunities for intervention, implementation, and dissemination research.

II. Review aggregate responses from the RFI, review NINDS portfolio and literature analyses, giving consideration to:  (a) those conditions or groups of conditions with higher overall burden of disease, (b) areas with clear definable, evaluable, and treatable targets, (c) unique issues related to the nature of the neurological condition (e.g. stigma), and (d) social impact.

III. Determine gaps, omissions, and ways to optimize this HD strategic planning process.

IV. Summarize the “state-of-the science” and potential opportunities for disparities and inequities interventions, relevant to the research areas supported by NINDS, other NIH ICOs, and other collaborative federal/non-federal partners.  Areas for consideration include basic and clinical research, health services, policy, epidemiological interventions, and implementation/dissemination strategies.

## Process, Deliverables, and Timeframe

This working group of the NANDS Council will:
              - Assist NINDS in seeking input broadly from stakeholders and other federal agencies on a 5-10 year strategic plan for HD research.
              - Produce a research framework that delineates the spectrum of basic to applied research on the social and biological determinants of neurological health.
              - Advise on and participate in the NINDS Health Disparities and Inequities in Neurological Disorders (HEADWAY) Workshop on September 22-24, 2021.
              - Assist in documenting the strategic planning process.
              - Present its final report of findings stemming from the above charge to the full NANDS Council on February 2, 2022.

## Working Group Members

**Alexandra M. Sims, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP.**University of Cincinnati Department of PediatricsCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

**Amytis Towfighi, M.D.**Los Angeles County Department of Health Services>

**Bernadette Boden-Albala, Dr.PH, M.P.H.**University of California, Irvine

**Binny Chokshi, M.D.**Division of Adolescent and Young Adult MedicineChildren's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.

**Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., M.A.S.**University of California, San Francisco

**Carolyn Jenkins, DrPH, MSN, MS, RN, RD, LD,FAANZ**Medical University of South Carolina

**Christin Veasley, B.Sc.**Chronic Pain Research Alliance

**Daniel Lackland, DrPH**Medical University of South Carolina

**Darrell J. Gaskin, Ph.D., M.S.**Hopkins Center for Health Disparities SolutionsJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

**David Brody, M.D., Ph.D.**Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

**Edwin Trevathan, M.D, M.P.H.**Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health

**Derek M. Griffith, Ph.D.**Georgetown University

**Geoffrey Ling, M.D., Ph.D.**On Demand PharmaceuticalsJohns Hopkins University

**Gerald Griffin, Ph.D.**Hope College

**Girardin Jean-Louis, Ph.D.**NYU Langone Health

**Goldie Smith-Byrd, Ph.D.**Wake Forest School of Medicine

**Jennifer J. Manly, Ph.D.**Columbia University.

**Karen C Johnston, M.D., M.Sc.**University of Virginia

**Kofi Essel, M.D., M.P.H.**Children’s National and The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (GWUSMHS)

**Leslie Skolarus, M.D.**University of Michigan

**Lilyana Amezcua, M.D., M.S.**University of Southern California (USC), Keck School of Medicine

**Maria Glymour,  ScD, M.S.**University of California, San Francisco

**Nimish Mohile, M.D., M.S., FAAN**University of Rochester

**Patrick A. Griffith, M.D., FAAN**Morehouse School of Medicine

**Rachel P. Berger, M.D., M.P.H.**University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

**Rachel Anne Whitmer, Ph.D.**University of California Davis

**Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., M.P.H.**Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

**Sameer Seth, M.D., Ph.D.**Baylor College of Medicine

**Spero M. Manson, Ph.D.**(Pembina Chippewa), Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health

**Stephanie Mohl**American Stroke AssociationAmerican Heart Association (AHA)

**Steven H. Woolf, M.D., M.P.H.**Virginia Commonwealth University

**Susana Ramírez, Ph.D., M.P.H.**University of California, Merced

**Virginia J. Howard, Ph.D., FAHA, FSCT**University of Alabama at Birmingham

**Wally R. Smith, M.D.**Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)