Volume 35 (2016)
NIH Center for Scientific Review Seeks Director for Division of AIDS, Behavioral, and Population Sciences
The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is seeking a Director for its Division of AIDS, Behavioral, and Population Sciences (DABP). The Director of DABP is a member of CSR’s senior management, advises the Director of CSR and other NIH officials on scientific issues relevant to the Division and its mission, and represents CSR within and outside of NIH. DABP’s director will “provide scientific leadership for the Division, which handles reviews covering the broad fields of AIDS and AIDS related research, biobehavioral and behavioral processes, epidemiology and population sciences, healthcare delivery and methodologies, and risk, prevention…
Diana Bianchi Named director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
On August 25, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced the selection of Diana Bianchi as director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She is expected to begin her NIH tenure on October 31, 2016. Bianchi joins the NIH from the Floating Hospital for Children and Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and is the fou nding director of the Mother Infant Research Institute and vice chair for pediatric research. A medical geneticist with special expertise in reproductive genetics, Bianchi’s research focuses on prenatal genomics. Read more about Bianchi and NICHD…
NIH Seeks Input on Metrics to Assess Value of Biomedical Digital Repositories
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting the input of the scientific community regarding “metrics to assess the value and impact of biomedical digital data repositories that may provide a basis for technical and science policy actions required to support” repositories’ long-term sustainability. NIH notes that its goal for data management and sharing “is to make publicly-funded data broadly accessible to support reuse, reproducibility and discovery while simultaneously balancing the costs and the benefits.” Accordingly, the agency has issued a request for information (RFI), (NOT-OD-16-133), seeking information on qualitative and quantitative metrics that describe utilization at multiple levels; quality…
NIOSH Requests Input on Motor Vehicle Safety Research Priorities
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is looking for input from the scientific community on the direction of its motor vehicle safety research efforts (see its Center for Motor Vehicle Safety strategic plan). Specifically, the Institute is seeking feedback on its research priorities, communications and outreach efforts, and how its products are used by stakeholders. Comments may be submitted in writing by October 14, 2016 or during a public web meeting on September 14, 2016. More information is available in the Federal Register. Back to this issue’s table…
Candidates Sought for CDC Health Disparities Advisory Subcommittee
The Health Disparities Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACD, CDC) is seeking nominations for new members. The Subcommittee provides expert advice to the CDC Director and Health and Human Services leadership on ways to reduce health disparities, including through research, program and policy analysis, and other CDC activities. Candidates should have expertise in “health policy, public health, global health, preparedness, preventive medicine, the faith-based and community-based sector, and allied fields.” More information is available in the Federal Register notice. Nominations are due by September 30, 2016. Back to this…
Webinar on NIJ Fellowships
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will host a webinar on Monday, September 19 at 3:00-4:00pm to provide an overview of research fellowship opportunities with NIJ. NIJ is the research, development, and evaluation division of the Department of Justice and provides fellowship opportunities for both early career researchers and experienced researchers in the social and behavioral sciences and other STEM fields. NIJ’s fellowship programs include the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the W.E.B. DuBois Fellowship, the Visiting Fellows Program, the New Investigator/Early Career Program, and the Research Assistantship Program. The webinar is free and open to the public. Registration can be…
New Social Science-Extreme Weather Research Alliance Being Formed, Input Sought
A new public-private research partnership is taking shape, looking specifically at the interdisciplinary and highly complex challenges associated with extreme weather events. The Alliance for Social-Behavioral Systems and Extreme Environmental Events (The Alliance) is the product of several years of community workshops, reports and other discussions on ways in which to bring the social, behavioral, and economic sciences to bear on helping society better “understand, prepare for, mitigate, and respond and adapt to extreme environmental events.” The most recent workshop, held in May 2015, served as an impetus for The Alliance as it is now conceptualized. It will be formally…
2016 Golden Goose Award Ceremony
The 2016 Golden Goose Award Ceremony will be held at 5:30pm on Thursday, September 22 in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. The Golden Goose Award celebrates federally-funded research that may seem obscure but has led to major scientific breakthroughs. This year’s honorees include researchers in the social and behavioral sciences, including the team who conducted the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Attendance at the award ceremony and reception is free and open to the public. Registration can be found here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
National Academies Seeks Comments on Indicators for Undergrad STEM Education
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NAS) Board on Science Education (BSE) seeks comments on its draft report, Developing Indicators for Undergraduate STEM Education. An expert panel, the Committee on Developing Indicators for Undergraduate STEM Education, was convened to develop national indicators for monitoring the quality of undergraduate STEM. The Committee proposes “a conceptual framework of goals and objectives for improving the quality of undergraduate STEM.” A two-phase study, the Committee now seeks input as it prepares to develop indicators. A series of questions for consideration can be accessed on BSE’s website. In addition, a one-day public meeting…
2017 National Academies Workshop on Current and Future Training Needs in Social and Behavioral Sciences
In an August 31 blog post, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) Director William Riley announced the convening of a 2017 National Academies workshop that is being sponsored by OBSSR and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate. The workshop will address the current and future training needs in the behavioral and social sciences and responds to the various reports in recent years that “indicate that a majority of behavioral and social sciences doctors are entering research careers in areas outside of the traditional academic research track; and…
Academies National Security Study Committee Seeks Nominations
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is conducting a decadal survey to identify opportunities from the social and behavioral sciences that can assist the intelligence community in its analytic responsibilities and contribute to national security. The project, which sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will be launched at a summit in early October. The Academies is seeking nominations for members to serve on the study committee for the survey, particularly those with expertise in the social and behavioral sciences, national security, intelligence analysis, related professional disciplines, and interdisciplinary approaches to science. More information is…
Academies Releases Report on Science Literacy
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released findings and conclusions from the Board on Science Education’s review of science literacy in the U.S. The Board on Science Education analyzed science literacy at the societal, community, and individual level. They found that adults in the U.S. have comparable levels of science literacy to adults in other economically developed countries and that there is a small, positive relationship between science literacy and support for science. Additionally, the Board found that an individual’s support of science in general does not predict his or her support or attitude for a specific scientific…
Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Program to Hold Technical Assistant Webinar
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Common Fund Program recently announced a pre-application technical assistance webinar for a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for administrative supplements to active NIH-funded clinical research. The SOBC Program “seeks to accelerate investigations of common mechanisms of behavior change applicable across a broad range of health behaviors, including medical regimen adherence.” The webinar specifically addresses the Science of Behavior Change: Use-inspired Basic Research to Optimize Behavior Change Interventions and Outcomes FOA (PA-16-334), and is scheduled for Thursday, September 8 at 2:00 pm ET. Registration is required to participate. Back to this…
International Panel on Social Progress Releases Draft Report for Comment
The International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) is an organization comprised of scholars in the social sciences and humanities from around the world with the goal of synthesizing the current scientific evidence on social change. The Panel has released 14 of 22 chapters of its draft report for public comment. The chapters cover topics such as “Social Justice, Well-Being and Economic Organization,” “Inequality as a Challenge to Democracy,” “Religions and Social Progress: Critical Assessments and Creative Partnerships,” and “How Can Education Promote Social Progress?” Feedback may be submitted on IPSP’s commenting platform. The Panel plans to collect comments through the…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
NIFA: Army Family Advocacy Program: Research and Prevention (USDA-NIFA-EXCA-006025) NIH: Global Noncommunicable Diseases and Injury Across the Lifespan: Exploratory Research (R21) (PAR-16-052) [FIC] NIH: International Research Scientist Development Award (IRSDA) (K01) (PAR-15-291) [FIC] NIH: Health Services Research on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01) (PAR-16-221), (R21) (PAR-16-222)[NIMHD, NIAAA, NIDA] NIH: Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities (G08) (RFA-LM-17-002) [NLM] Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Events Calendar
Economic History Association Annual Meeting, Boulder, CO, September 16-18, 2016 Golden Goose Award Ceremony, Washington, DC, September 22, 2016 Congressional Briefing on Violence Prevention from the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy and WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center, Washington, DC September 27, 2016 Evaluation 2016, Atlanta, GA, October 22-30, 2016 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, New York, NY, October 27-30, 2016 A list of COSSA members’ annual meetings and other events can be found on the COSSA webpage. COSSA members who have an upcoming event they would like to see listed in the Events Calendar and on our website should send an email to jmilton@cossa.org. Back…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35, Issue 16
Featured News HOT TOPIC: Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Federally-Funded Researchers Federal Agency & Administration News Joshua A. Gordon Named Director of National Institute of Mental Health NIDCR Seeks Input on Proposed FY 2018 Research Initiatives National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease Updated; NIH Releases FY 2018 AD Bypass Budget Publications & Community Events Academies Release Workshop Proceedings on “Framing the Dialogue on Race and Ethnicity to Advance Health Equity” New Academies Report on Parenting Offers Recommendations for Future Research Funding Opportunity Announcements COSSA Member Spotlight SBM/NCI to Host Webinar Highlighting Six New NCI Funding Opportunities Events Calendar
HOT TOPIC: Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Federally-Funded Researchers
COSSA has released a new publication in its HOT TOPICS series, Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Federally-Funded Researchers. HOT TOPICS are periodic, featured articles prepared by COSSA staff members offering insights into timely issues important to the social and behavioral science community. This edition was written by Camille Hosman, who joined the COSSA team earlier this year. The report provides an overview of some of the major efforts made in recent years to better understand issues of regulatory burden and to begin to develop roadmaps for addressing it. While there is no shortage of ideas, given the complexity of the topic and…
Joshua A. Gordon Named Director of National Institute of Mental Health
On July 28, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced the appointment of Joshua A. Gordon as director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Gordon is currently an associate professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Additionally, he is an associate director of the Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute Adult Psychiatry Residency Program. His lab studies genetic models of psychiatric diseases from “an integrative neuroscience perspective and across multiple levels of analysis, focused on understanding how a given disease mutation leads to a particular…
NIDCR Seeks Input on Proposed FY 2018 Research Initiatives
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking the input of the extramural scientific community, interested organizations, and the public to assist it in identifying “topical themes for development into research initiatives.” According to NIDCR Director Martha Somerman, as part of its budget planning process, the Institute begins its “initiative development process each year by identifying broad research topic areas, or themes.” FY 2018 themes include: Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancers Implementation Science and Oral Health Oral HIV Vaccine-induced Immunity Craniofacial Bones and the Nervous System The Oral Microbiome…