Executive Branch News
NIH Suspends Recently-Announced Grant Support Index Policy, Launches “Next Generation Researchers Initiative”
On June 8, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced that based on feedback from the scientific community in response to the May 2 proposed policy change to use a Grant Support Index (GSI) as a means to “optimize stewardship of tax payers’ dollars,” NIH has decided to take “a more focused approach to increase the number of NIH-funded early-staged an mid-care investigators (ESI).” Instead of the GSI, Collins announced the agency will implement a “Next Generation Researchers Initiative (NGRI).” The issue was discussed at the June 8 NIH Advisory Committee to Director (ACD) meeting following a presentation…
Collins to Stay on at NIH; Two Other Leadership Positions Announced
On June 6, the President announced that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins will stay on as NIH director. As previously reported, Collins was asked to remain in the position in January by the new administration. Collins continues to enjoy support of the Republican leadership of committees with jurisdiction over the NIH. He was officially appointed to the post despite a May 22 letter from 41 conservative House members urging the President to appoint someone whose views are more aligned the Administration’s “pro-life direction,” citing embryonic stem cell research and human cloning as examples. In addition, NIH recently…
Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services Seeks Members
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking seven non-Federal members for the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services. The 22-member Council consists of 12 non-federal members who fall within six categories: dementia caregivers; health care providers; researchers with dementia-related expertise in basic, translational, clinical, or drug development science; voluntary health association representatives; representatives of state health departments; and dementia patient advocates, including an advocate currently living with the disease. Nominations are due June 16, 2017. For more information, see the announcement. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH-Supported Dissemination and Implementation Research Training Institute Seeks Applications
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is supporting a training institute designed to provide participants with a “thorough grounding in conducting D&I [dissemination and implementation] research in health across all areas of health and health care.” The Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) is open to investigators at any career stage interested in conducting D&I research. The training will be conducted both online and a during two-day in-person training session in Bethesda, MD, from August 14 through December 1,…
EPA Advisory Board Accepting Nominations
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) is accepting nominations for new members. The BOSC advises the EPA’s Office of Research and Development on technical and management issues related to its research programs: Air, Climate, and Energy; Chemical Safety for Sustainability; Human Health Risk Assessment; Homeland Security; Safe and Sustainable Water Resources; and Sustainable and Healthy Communities. EPA is seeking nominees with expertise in the following fields (among others): climate/global change, public health, exposure science, risk assessment, sustainability, science policy, program evaluation, social science, behavioral science, and decision science. Nominations are due by June 30, 2017. More…
Census Bureau Director Resigns, Complicating Outlook for 2020 Decennial
On May 9, John Thompson announced his plans to step down as Director of the Census Bureau effective June 30. Thompson’s resignation comes at a critical time for the Bureau as it ramps up its activities ahead of the 2020 Census and continues to face periodic threats to the American Community Survey. So far, no details have emerged about a potential replacement. The Deputy Director position at the Bureau has been vacant since Nancy Potok left to become Chief Statistician of the United States in January. No reason was given for Thompson’s departure in the middle of a year-long extension…
COSSA Joins Community in Urging Increased Allocation for Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill
COSSA joined nearly 800 organizational stakeholders of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill in a letter to the Appropriations leadership urging it to increase the fiscal year (FY) 2018 302(b) allocation, which is the committee’s funding cap on spending for each of the appropriation bills. While the letter acknowledges the Subcommittee’s “broad range of constituencies and needs,” it also recognizes that the programs funded under the Labor-HHS bill “are continually short-changed in the annual appropriations process.” Accordingly, the scientific community emphasizes that “without an increase in the Labor-HHS 302(b) allocation,…
President’s Complete Budget Request Expected May 23
Last week, the Trump Administration notified Congress that it will transmit its complete Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget request on May 23. Federal agencies have started to schedule events to review their FY 2018 budget requests but details remain unclear as to the fate of agencies that support the social and behavioral sciences. The Trump Administration released preliminary details of the FY 2018 request on March 16, which included proposals for Cabinet-level departments and some other large agencies. Following the release of the complete budget request, COSSA will prepare an in-depth analysis of the budget as it impacts the social…
Gopal Khanna Named AHRQ Director
Gopal Khanna has been appointed to lead the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Khanna was most recently the Director of Illinois’ Data Analytics Healthcare and Human Services Innovation Incubator and served as Minnesota’s first Chief Information Officer. He also served in senior policy positions during the George W. Bush administration. Khanna succeeds Sharon Arnold, AHRQ’s Deputy Director, who served as Acting Director for the agency after the departure of Andrew Bindman during the Presidential transition. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
HHS Seeks Nominations for Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently seeking nominations for seven new non-Federal members to its Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services. The Council advises the HHS Secretary on preventing or reducing the burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias on those suffering from the disease and their caregivers. The selected members will replace the seven members whose terms expire on September 30, 2017. Nominations are due June 16, 2017. For more information and/or to suggest a nominee, see the announcement. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH Announces Major Policy Shift: Agency to Impose Cap on R01s Held by Grantees
On May 2, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced that the agency would be initiating a new approach to grant funding designed to “optimize stewardship of tax payers’ dollars.” Essentially, the new policy would limit the number of investigator-initiated (R01) grants held by grantees to three. According to NIH, this change would affect approximately 6 percent of current investigators but would free up resources to support nearly 1,600 additional grants. Announcing the policy change, Collins stressed that the new policy would ensure that the funds given by NIH “are producing the best results from our remarkable scientific…
OBSSR Holds 10th Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors; Mark Hayward Delivers 2017 Lecture
On April 25, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) hosted its 10th annual celebration honoring Matilda White Riley’s influence in social and behavioral sciences conducted and supported by the NIH. In 2016, OBSSR renamed the celebration Real Life, Labs, Research: Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors. The ceremony honors a “who’s who of behavioral and social science research,” noted current OBSSR director Bill Riley (no relation). Mark Hayward, Professor of Sociology, Centennial Commission Professor in the Liberal Arts, and director of the Population Health Initiative at the University of Texas…
NSB Releases Policy Brief on Career Path of Science, Engineering, and Health PhDs
The National Science Board, which is the policy-making body of the National Science Foundation (NSF), released a new policy brief featuring an interactive infographic tool allowing policymakers, educators, students, and others to assess career opportunities for those with doctoral degrees in science, engineering, and health fields. The interactive webpage also allows users to see the number of people with doctorates employed in business, government, and academic jobs and how career paths change over time. The tool can be found here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Preventive Services Task Force Accepting Nominations
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is accepting nominations for new members. The Task Force, which is administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), makes evidence-based recommendations about the effectiveness of various clinical preventive services, including screening, counselling, medication. Candidates are particularly sought with expertise in public health, health equity, applying science to health policy, behavioral medicine, and communication of scientific findings to multiple audiences. Nominations are due by June 15, 2017. More information is available in the Federal Register notice. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NSF Seeks Nominations for Advisory Committee
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued its annual call for recommendations for membership to its various advisory committees and technical boards. These committees advise NSF’s offices and directorates on program management, research direction, and policies impacting the agency. Committees of particular interest to the COSSA community include the Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources. Recommendations for membership are maintained for 12 months. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NSF Releases Dear Colleague Letter on Convergence Research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) published a Dear Colleague letter on April 4 outlining new opportunities at NSF for “convergence research” projects. NSF defines convergence research as projects that have “deep integration across disciplines,” are “driven by a specific and compelling problem,” and bring together diverse teams of scientists. The Dear Colleague letter identifies the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investment as prospects for convergence research topics, including Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, which is the “Big Idea” lead by the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
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…
Criminologists Call for Keeping Science at DOJ
In a statement published in the Washington Post entitled “Keep Science in the Department of Justice,” 25 former presidents of the American Society of Criminology, a COSSA governing member, argue that politics should not intrude in the science-based approach of the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The statement outlines recommendations to the President and Attorney General as they appoint leaders of these agencies. Priorities include maintaining standards of scientific integrity, improving existing data tools, and promoting evidence-based policies. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIFA Releases Evaluation of Capacity Funding Mechanism
The Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently released a report that measures the effectiveness of NIFA research, education, and extension investments at land-grant colleges and universities (“capacity grants”). The report, Quantitative and Qualitative Review of NIFA Capacity Funding, was prepared by TEConomy Partners, LLC. The report finds that the capacity funding model is able to produce a high return on investment and leverage matching state and local funding for projects. It concludes, “Capacity Funding carries substantial and significant ongoing advantages as an R&D and extension funding model.” The report is available in full on the…
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…