Search Results: AI
NIH Office of AIDS Research Issues RFI on FY 2019 Trans-NIH Research Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research (OAR) has issued a request for information (RFI) (NOT-OD-17-053) seeking input from the scientific community on the development of the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research. OAR is statutorily required to develop an annual Trans-NIH Plan that serves as the framework for its trans-NIH HIV/AIDS research budget. As previously reported, in August 2015 NIH released a Notice, NIH HIV/AIDS Research Priorities and Guidelines for Determining AIDS Funding (NOT-OD-15-137), outlining its overarching HIV/AIDS research priorities along with the guidelines the agency will use to determine AIDS funding. High priority research…
Trump Administration Releases Preliminary Details on FY 2018 Budget
On March 16, the Trump Administration released preliminary, high-level details of its fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget request, referred to as a “skinny budget.” Full budget details are expected sometime in May. There are few surprises in the President’s “safety and security” budget blueprint. Major reductions are proposed for nondefense discretionary programs (including research accounts) in order to finance $54 billion in increases for the Department of Defense. Of course, to achieve such a reallocation, Congress would need to act to adjust the budget caps that are currently governing defense and nondefense discretionary spending; the President cannot unilaterally shift funds…
Archived Webinar Now Available: “Social Science in the Age of Trump: What We’d Like to See”
The archived video of a February 9 webinar, “Social Science in the Age of Trump: What We’d Like to See,” hosted by SAGE Publishing is now available. The webinar featured COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus in a conversation with Michael Todd, editor of Social Science Space, and touched on the current state of affairs related to the social and behavioral sciences, areas of concern under the Trump Administration, and how researchers and academics can get involved in advocating on behalf of the social sciences. The complete webinar is available to watch here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA 2016 Annual Report Now Available
COSSA has released its 2016 Annual Report, which highlights some of COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year. Click here to read the report and learn how your organization can become a member of COSSA. Annual reports from previous years are available on the COSSA website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
SBM Hosts NIH Good Clinical Practice for Social and Behavioral Research Training Course
The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), a COSSA member, is hosting a free National Institutes of Health (NIH) training and certification course for good clinical practice in behavioral and social science research at the request of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, funded by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, developed the training material which is comprised of nine video modules. As previously reported, all NIH-funded investigators and staff who are involved in applying for, conducting, overseeing, or managing clinical trials are required, effective January 1, 2017, to…
New Issue of “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Wasteful Research’”
COSSA has released the latest issue of Setting the Record Straight on “Wasteful Research” (PDF available here), a series of interviews with researchers whose work has been called out in Congressional wastebooks or other attacks. This series aims to give these scientists the chance to set the record straight about the value and potential of their work– and confront misconceptions about social science research funded by the federal government. This edition features Megan Tracy (James Madison University), whose National Science Foundation-funded study on regulations in China’s dairy industry was one of the targets of Lamar Smith’s inquiry into NSF grants in 2013 and…
GOP Chairmen Send Letter of Support for NIH Director; Maryland Lawmaker Expresses Interest in Leading Agency
On December 2, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and House and Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairmen Tom Cole (R-OK) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) sent a letter to President-elect Trump’s transition team, urging the new administration to retain National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins. The chairmen state that Collins is the “right person, at the right time” to lead the NIH. They further emphasized that “under his leadership with Congress’ commitment to biomedical research as a national priority, the National Institutes of Health…
HHS Office of Minority Health Releases Compendium of Publicly Available Datasets
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) recently announced the release of a new resource, the Compendium of Publicly Available Datasets and Other Data-Related Resources, to aid researchers, public health practitioners, and policymakers with data on health and health care disparities and social determinants of health. A free resource, the Compendium provides “descriptions of and links to 132 public datasets and resources that include information about health conditions and other factors that impact the health of minority populations.” The new resource was created by the Federal Interagency Health Equity Team of the National…
President-Elect Trump Begins Transition; Many Questions Remain for Science
Following a surprising victory on Nov. 8, businessman Donald Trump’s campaign will now focus on transitioning to the White House. More details have emerged about Trump’s goals for his presidency through a transition website, goals for his first 100 days in office, and a job posting for administration appointees. Notably, President-elect Trump’s plan for his first 100 days includes a hiring freeze on federal employees and “a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.” Many uncertainties remain, including key administration appointments and more detailed policy proposals for the administration. Before the election, President-elect Trump…
Friends of NCHS-Sponsored Blog Post Explains Proposed NHIS Changes
In a blog post sponsored by the Friends of NCHS (of which COSSA is a member), Renee Gindi, health survey statistician with the Division of Health Interview Statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), provides a detailed, plain-language summary of the proposed changes to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). One of NCHS’ hallmark surveys, the NHIS produces critical data on the health of the American public through detailed in-home interviews with respondents. The survey is scheduled to be redesigned for 2018. In her post, “Taking a Closer Look: The 2018 National Health Interview Survey Redesign,” Gindi explains…
OMB Seeks Comments on Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
On September 30, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a Federal Register Notice soliciting comments regarding “Review and Possible Limited Revision of OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive on Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.” These standards were last revised in 1997. The Notice observes that since the revisions were implemented, “much has been learned about how these standards have improved the quality of Federal information collected and presented on race and ethnicity.” Accordingly, the Notice identifies areas that may “benefit from further refinement” (see the Notice for full details). Specifically, OMB is seeking…
Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Returns to Campaign Trail
Congress successfully passed a stopgap funding bill on September 28 to keep the government operating into fiscal year (FY) 2017, which began October 1. The bill will fund the government until December 9 and includes a number of policy and funding provisions that have been hotly debated in recent months, including funding to combat the Zika virus and the opioid epidemic, as well as aid in response to the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan and flooding in Louisiana. The text of the Continuing Resolution is available here. Congress will reconvene following the elections in November and what happens next…
COSSA Releases Third Issue of “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Wasteful Research’”
COSSA has released the third issue of Setting the Record Straight on “Wasteful Research” (PDF available here). This series features interviews with researchers whose work has been called out in Congressional wastebooks or other attacks. Through this series, researchers are given the chance to set the record straight about the value and potential of their work–and confront misconceptions about social science research funded by the federal government. This edition features Kimberley Phillips (Trinity University), whose grant to study the effect of exercise on neurodegenerative diseases was caricatured in Sen. Jeff Flake’s 2015 “The Farce Awakens” wastebook. Back to this issue’s table…
Lawmakers Poised to Pass Stopgap Funding, Return to Campaign Trail
Members of Congress are hoping to get out of town by the end of the week — a week early — to head back out on the campaign trail. However, at the time of this writing, challenges remain in negotiating a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operating into the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1. Lawmakers had planned to stay in session for the remainder of September, but noted earlier in the month that they were poised to strike a deal on a continuing resolution (CR) by this week, allowing them to head home until after…
NIH Department of Bioethics Fellowship Opportunities Available for Fall 2017
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Bioethics is accepting applications for its fall 2017 fellowship program. The two-year post-doctoral and pre-doctoral fellows engage in the activities and “intellectual life” of the Department, as well as study “ethical issues related to conduct of research, clinical practice, genetics, and health policy.” In addition to having access to educational opportunities at NIH, fellows also have opportunities to participate in weekly bioethics seminars, case conferences, ethics consultations, and IRB deliberations. The application deadline for the post-doctoral fellowship is December 31, 2016 and January 15, 2017 for the pre-doctoral fellowship. To view the…
COSSA Releases Second Issue of “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Wasteful Research’”
COSSA has released the second issue of Setting the Record Straight on “Wasteful Research” (PDF available here). This series features interviews with researchers whose work has been called out in Congressional wastebooks or other attacks. We are hoping to give these scientists the chance to set the record straight about the value and potential of their work– and confront misconceptions about social science research funded by the federal government. This edition features Lisa Neff (University of Texas, Austin), whose National Science Foundation-funded study on relationships among older adults was ridiculed in James Lankford’s “Federal Fumbles” wastebook. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
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…
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…
New COSSA Resource: Setting the Record Straight on “Wasteful Research”
Support for fundamental, basic research has been an essential function of the federal government for decades. The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies invest in scientific research that has led to some of our country’s most important innovations. Support for basic research has the potential to change the way we live, create new knowledge, solve societal challenges, and help us to better understand our world. Still, some policy makers routinely dismiss projects as “wasteful” without attempting to fully understand their potential benefits to society or the progress of science. In a new monthly series, Setting…