Office of the Clinical Director

Miroslav “Misha” Bačkonja, M.D., Clinical Director

Miroslav “Misha” Bačkonja, M.D., is clinical director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). In this position, he is responsible for providing administrative, regulatory, and clinical support and oversight of the human research conducted by the NCCIH intramural investigators. He is also participating in research projects related to assessing pain and its underlying biological and neurobiological mechanisms; implementing and developing novel, precise measurements of pain; and developing novel therapies for pain by developing and applying principles of translational pain research. 

Prior to his arrival at NCCIH, Dr. Bačkonja was a professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at University of Washington–Seattle. He was also professor of neurology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the University of Wisconsin Pain Treatment and Research Center. He has also served as a research clinician at contract research organizations.

Dr. Bačkonja received his M.D. from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and completed his neurology residency and pain fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.  

Read more about Dr. Bačkonja.

Bisi Ayodele, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, CNS, Nurse Practitioner

Bisi Ayodele, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, CNS, is a nurse practitioner in the Office of the Clinical Director. She can be reached at bisi.ayodele@nih.gov or 301-827-0415.

Linda Ellison-Dejewski, FNP-BC, CAPT/USPHS, Nurse Practitioner

Linda Ellison-Dejewski, FNP-BC, CAPT/USPHS, is a nurse practitioner in the Office of the Clinical Director.  She can be reached at ellisonl@mail.nih.gov or 301-594-5731.

Zahid Noor, Ph.D., Clinical Coordinator

Zahid Noor is a clinical coordinator in the Office of Clinical Director at NCCIH. In 2019, Zahid joined NCCIH where he provides regulatory support to the Affective Neuroscience and Pain Lab, Sensory Cells and Circuits Lab, and Pain Research Center. Zahid received his master’s degree in regulatory affairs in science from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and his Ph.D. from Punjab University, Chandigarh, India. Zahid started his career as a postdoc in vaccine research at Texas Tech University and then pulmonary fibrosis at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining NCCIH, Zahid coordinated clinical trials in cardiology/heart failure and oncology at the University of Maryland. Zahid can be reached at zahid.noor@nih.gov or 301-480-9912.

Keyonna Berry, Patient Care Coordinator

William Close, Executive Assistant