Dr. Emily Caporello is the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Small Business Program. Prior to joining NINDS in 2019, Dr. Caporello co-founded MindX Corporation, a BCI neurotech startup, where she led research collaborations with academic labs and oversaw investigational approval of a novel neural interface device. Dr. Caporello previously worked as a Senior Neuroscientist supporting neurotechnology development at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and co-founded CleverPet, a tech startup focused on automated behavioral training technology. Dr. Caporello received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California San Diego.

The NINDS Small Business Program provides $100M annually to small U.S. companies to develop solutions in the neurological space. NIH small business funding has a strong national impact as the largest source of non-dilutive seed funding for biotech and life science technologies, totaling over $1.4B per year.