Volume 34 (2015)
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 14
Featured News Why Social Science? Share Your Stories! Congressional News Senate Committee Seeks Comments on COMPETES Revision FY 2016 Process Stalled as Congress Heads for Summer Break Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill Advances through Committee Federal Agency & Administration News NIH Seeks Input on Congressionally-Mandated Agency-Wide Strategic Plan NIH Seeks Comments on Proposed Alternative to National Childrenâs Study Publications & Community Events AAAS Collecting Stories to Highlight the Importance of Scientific Conferences Funding Opportunity Announcements COSSA Member Spotlight COSSA Welcomes Virginia Tech Events Calendar
Senate Committee Seeks Comments on COMPETES Revision
On July 8, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee issued a press release requesting public input to help guide the Committee’s development of America COMPETES Act reauthorization legislation. A follow-up release was issued last week providing additional details on the Committeeâs plans. COMPETES is legislation originally enacted in 2007 that sought to ensure U.S. leadership in science and technology by making targeted investments at U.S. basic science agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF). As COSSA has been reporting, the House introduced and ultimately passed its version of COMPETES legislation earlier this year with steep proposed cuts to social…
FY 2016 Process Stalled as Congress Heads for Summer Break
Despite promises from Republican leaders in the House and Senate to pass fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations legislation through âregular orderâ this year, the FY 2016 process has stalled amid issues ranging from a policy rider pertaining to flying of the Confederate flag on federal grounds that killed the bills in the House and calls for the need to broker a larger budget deal. The House and Senate made some progress before the process sputtered out in recent weeks, with both chambers advancing all 12 of their bills through committee and the House managing to pass six of them; however,…
AAAS Collecting Stories to Highlight the Importance of Scientific Conferences
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has launched a campaign to illustrate for policymakers the positive impacts scientific and technical conferences have on research. Over the past several years, federal regulations and policies have made it increasingly difficult for scientists and researchers employed by the federal government to attend conferences. AAAS is asking for stories that âhighlighting the importance of conference participation to a healthy scientific and technical community,â particularly stories that involve collaboration with scientists from federal agencies, national labs, or research institutes. Stories may be submitted on the AAAS website. Back to this issueâs table…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
NICHD: Innovative Development/Use of Technology to Increase HIV Testing and Linkage to Care Efforts in Adolescent Populations (R41/R42, R43/R44) (RFA-HD-16-029) (RFA-HD-16-030) NHLBI: Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC): Using Implementation Science to Optimize Care of Adolescents and Adults with Sickle Cell Disease (U01, U24) (RFA-HL-16-010) (RFA-HL-16-011) NIAAA: Alcohol Use Disorders: Behavioral Treatment, Services and Recovery Research (R01, R03) (PA-15-299) (PA-15-300) Back to this issueâs table of contents.
COSSA Welcomes Virginia Tech
COSSA is thrilled to welcome Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) as its newest university member. Located in Blacksburg, VA, Virginia Tech receives more than $7 million annually in federal social and behavioral science research awards and is home to the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment. COSSA’s full membership list can be viewed here. Interested in joining COSSA? More information here. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Events Calendar
Live Long and Prosper: the Impact of Education on Mortality, Washington, DC, July 27, 2015 Toxic Stress: How Economic Inequality Hurts Early Childhood Development, Washington, DC, July 30, 2015 American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, August 6-9, 2015 Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, August 6-9, 2015 American Statistical Association Joint Statistical Meetings, Seattle, WA, August 8-13, 2015 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 22-25, 2015 National Conference on Health Statistics, Bethesda, MD, August 24-26, 2015 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting & Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, September 3-5, 2015 Economic History Association Annual Meeting, Nashville,…
NIH Seeks Input on Congressionally-Mandated Agency-Wide Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently issued a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI) (NOT-OD-15-118) inviting comments and suggestions on the framework for its congressionally-mandated NIH-wide Strategic Plan. NIH is requesting feedback by August 16, 2015. The agency also plans to host webinars in early to mid-August to gather additional input. NIH Deputy Director Larry Tabak presented the agencyâs first iteration of its draft plan at the June 11 meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) (see Update, July 14, 2015). At the July 20 meeting of the ACD, Tabak presented a revised draft framework incorporating the…
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill Advances through Committee
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY 2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (S. 1800) on July 16, after the billâs approval by the Agriculture Subcommittee earlier in the week. Among the agencies funded in the bill are the U.S. Department of Agricultureâs (USDA) principal statistical agencies, the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which houses the Departmentâs main competitive grants program, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The House Appropriations Committee passed its version of…
NIH Seeks Comments on Proposed Alternative to National Childrenâs Study
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is inviting comments on its proposed plan for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program and has issued a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI). Background The ECHO program responds to the NIHâs decision to discontinue the National Childrenâs Study (NCS) in December 2014, per the recommendations of a working group of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) of NIH (See Update, December 19, 2014). NIH emphasizes that in keeping with the spirit of the NCS, ECHO aims to address the critical goal of understanding the impact of environmental influences on childrenâs…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 13
Featured News COSSA Releases Statement on House & Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Bills COSSA in Action COSSA Joins Partners in Advocating for BTS, AHRQ Congressional News 21st Century Cures Act Passes the House with Bipartisan Support Federal Agency & Administration News White House Issues Annual S&T Guidance for FY 2017 Budget Congressionally-Mandated Strategic Plan, FY 2016 Budget Discussed by NIH Advisory Committee to the Director NIH SMRB Working Group Approves Recommendations on Streamlining the NIH Grant Award Process NIH Seeks Feedback on Using mHealth for the Precision Medicine Cohort Publications & Community Events AAAS Seeks Nominations for Science Diplomacy Award Funding…
COSSA Releases Statement on House & Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Bills
On July 2, COSSA released a statement detailing its objections to the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services , Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) spending bills passed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in June. Although both bills would provide significant increases to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as the statement notes âUnfortunately, the much needed increases in NIH funding in both bills come at the expense of federal agencies whose work plays a vital and collaborative role in the U.S. scientific enterprise, particularly as it relates to our nationâs health. As such, COSSA cannot…
COSSA Joins Partners in Advocating for BTS, AHRQ
COSSA has joined 11 fellow organizations on a letter in support of provisions that enhance the budget autonomy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) in the Future Transportation Research and Innovation for Prosperity Act (H.R. 2886), introduced by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Ranking Member on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committeeâs Research and Technology Subcommittee. COSSA also joined the Friends of AHRQ on letters objecting to the elimination of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the Houseâs FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill and the Senateâs proposed cuts…
21st Century Cures Act Passes the House with Bipartisan Support
On July 10, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) by a 344 to 77 vote. In addition to reauthorizing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for three years, the bill as passed would provide $9.3 billion in advanced appropriations for fiscal years (FY) 2016-2020 for a new NIH Cures Innovation Fund and $110 million annually for the Food and Drug Administrationâs (FDA) regulatory modernization activities. (See COSSAâs analysis of the bill here.)
White House Issues Annual S&T Guidance for FY 2017 Budget
On July 9, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued their annual joint memorandum to federal agencies outlining âMulti-Agency Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2017 Budget.â Each year, OMB and OSTP outline specific White House science, technology, and innovation priorities for federal investment, which is meant to inform federal agenciesâ development of the fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget submission to OMB and Congress. Similar to last yearâs guidance, the FY 2017 memorandum asks federal agencies to allocate resources to a number of multi-agency research activities, including advanced…
Congressionally-Mandated Strategic Plan, FY 2016 Budget Discussed by NIH Advisory Committee to the Director
The June 11-12 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) meeting included the discussion of a number of important issues for the agency, including its fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget and its efforts to develop a five-year strategic plan by December 2015.
NIH SMRB Working Group Approves Recommendations on Streamlining the NIH Grant Award Process
On July 6, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) Working Group on the NIH Grant Review, Award, and Management Process (GRAMP) approved its draft report of its findings and recommendations on ways to streamline the NIH grant award process. NIH director Francis Collins charged the Working Group to ârecommend ways to further optimize the process of reviewing, awarding, and managing grants in a way that maximizes the time researchers can devote to research while still maintaining proper oversightâ without compromising the quality of peer review. To accomplish the charge the working group examined the grant…
NIH Seeks Feedback on Using mHealth for the Precision Medicine Cohort
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking feedback from the scientific community regarding using mobile Health (mHealth) technologies for the Precision Medicine Cohort. The agency points out that the collection of health and lifestyle data on âparticipant volunteersâ have generally come from medical records and extensive phone or paper surveys. For the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), the agency is considering using smart phone and wireless technologies to collect some of this information (See Update, June 15, 2015). The use of these devices, however, generates a number of considerations for which NIH is seeking feedback: Willingness of participants to carry…
AAAS Seeks Nominations for Science Diplomacy Award
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is seeking nominations for its annual AAAS Science Diplomacy Award, which is presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting in February. The award recognizes individuals or small groups in the scientific and engineering community that have âcontributed to the role of science cooperation in building stronger links between and among societies.â Past recipients can be viewed on the AAAS website. Nominations are due by September 1. Back to this issueâs table of contents.