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Read the Academy's bi-weekly update on legislative and regulatory advocacy for neurology.

January 12, 2026

NINDS director’s sudden departure

We’ve got your back on Capitol Hill—and we’re in overdrive advocating for you and your patients. Capitol Hill Report is your source for all things neurology advocacy, so keep reading and sharing to stay up to date. Plus, we want to hear from you: Let us know if your practice, research, or patients are affected by recent policy changes.

Issue in focus

On Friday, December 26, the AAN learned that Walter Koroshetz, MD, FAAN, was denied a reappointment to his role as Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The AAN is extremely concerned about this decision and released a statement expressing that concern immediately after the news broke. While there has not been an announcement about a new director to date, the AAN is closely monitoring the situation and has been in contact with federal legislators about this issue. 

Dr. Koroshetz 
Dr. Koroshetz joined NINDS in 2007 as Deputy Director and has held leadership roles in a number of NIH and NINDS programs, including co-leading the NIH BRAIN Initiative, the NIH RECOVER Initiative in the study of Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19, the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, the Traumatic Brain Injury Center collaboration between the NIH Intramural Research Program and the Uniformed Services University, the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (NIH HEAL Initiative), and the Undiagnosed Diseases Network. He co-leads a number of the NIH Common Fund’s programs, including the Acute to Chronic Pain Transition programs, Somatic Cell Gene Editing program, and the Accelerating Leading-edge Science in ALS (ALS2) initiative. Dr. Koroshetz was also instrumental in founding the NIH Office of Emergency Care Research.

Before joining NINDS, Dr. Koroshetz served as Vice Chair of Neurology and Director of Stroke and Neurointensive Care Services at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He was a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and led neurology resident training at MGH from 1990 to 2007. Over that same period, he co-directed the HMS Neurobiology of Disease Course with Edward Kravitz, MD, and Robert H. Brown, MD. 

Dr. Koroshetz has been a member of the AAN for over 40 years. The AAN has enjoyed a very collaborative relationship with NINDS during his tenure, and he has participated in countless Annual Meetings.  

Next steps
The AAN is in close contact with other major neuroscience organizations as we work to figure out the next best steps to address this issue. We will continue to communicate how the AAN is leading on this issue and how our members can be involved through Capitol Hill Report and other channels. In the meantime, please consider amplifying the AAN’s statement over social media channels, including on and  

If you have any questions about the AAN’s advocacy efforts or how you can get involved, please contact us at advocacy@aan.com. 

 
Latest advocacy news

Telehealth prescribing flexibilities extended 
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