Executive Branch News
EPA Seeks Research on “Behavioral Drivers” of Significant Carbon Reduction
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program is soliciting applications for research projects on “Anticipating the Environmental Impacts and Behavioral Drivers of Deep Decarbonization.” The term “Deep Decarbonization” refers to the changes necessary to significantly reduce carbon emissions and meet climate policy goals. EPA is interested in proposals that address at least one of the following questions: “How might the deep decarbonization of the U.S. economy by 2050 change the geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic distribution of public health and ecosystem risks associated with energy production and consumption?” “What factors drive decisions at the individual, firm, and…
IRS Statistical Agency Accepting Research Proposals
The Statistics of Income program (SOI) within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is accepting proposals for its Joint Statistical Research Program. The program, which is generally offered every two years, matches researchers outside the federal government with IRS researchers to work on projects that will deepen our understanding of taxpayer behavior and of how tax policies affect individuals, businesses, and the economy. The IRS hopes that such projects will also lead to the development of new datasets to enhance future tax research. SOI is particularly interested in proposals addressing the following topics: “Tax administration in a global economy; taxpayer needs…
National Library of Medicine Seeks Input into Strategic Plan
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking the scientific and stakeholder community’s input into the goals and priorities for NLM’s next ten-year strategic plan. Specifically, NLM is seeking comments around four themes: (1) data science, open science, and biomedical informatics; (2) biomedical discovery and translational science; (3) public health (clinical systems, public health systems and services, and personal health); and (4) collections to support discovery and health in the 21st century. For more information and/or to comment, see the Request for Information (NOT-LM-17-002). Comments are due January 9, 2017. Back to this…
NIGMS Analyzes RFI Response on Modernizing Biomedical Graduate Education
On November 2, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shared its analysis of the input it received from the scientific community in response to a June 2016 request for information (RFI) (NOT-GM-16-109) on how to “catalyze the modernization of biomedical graduate education through NIGMS’s institutional predoctoral training program.” According to NIGMS, the comments received addressed 28 themes and fell into five categories: institutional and training-related issues, skills development, systemic issues within the research enterprise, careers, and administrative and review issues. The feedback around the issue of diversity and the role of…
2016 Presidential Candidates’ Science Policy Platforms
Over the last year and a half, presidential candidates have provided hints as to what their science policy priorities would be if they were to win. Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released details of her “Initiative on Technology and Innovation”, which includes commitments to grow the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the research budgets at the Department of Energy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). While Secretary Clinton’s published positions related to science primarily focus on computer science and technology, in response to a questionnaire from the Scientific American, Secretary Clinton…
Inaugural NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival — December 2, 2016
On December 2, 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) will hold an inaugural NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival. Intended to become an annual event, the festival “will highlight recently funded contributions of behavioral and social science to health research.” It will also “explore new directions for health-related behavioral and social science research.” The event is tailored to build the “understanding and capacity to implement transformative behavioral and system interventions that lead to sustainable improvements in health and well-being.” The festival agenda and additional information is available on OBSSR’s website….
IES Seeks Comments on NCER-NPSAS Grants
The National Center for Education Research (NCER) within the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is proposing a new information collection as part of an ongoing collaboration between NCER and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—also located within IES—and is seeking comments. The NCER supports research projects using subsamples of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a nationally-representative sample of postsecondary institutions and students fielded every three to four years. The goal for the proposed new collection is to facilitate “one-off” research projects. The Department is specifically interested in comments addressing the following questions: “(1) Is…
NASS Advisory Committee Accepting Nominations
The Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics, which is the advisory body to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is accepting nominations. The Committee advises the Secretary of Agriculture and NASS leadership on issues that may affect NASS’ agriculture surveys and products. Members represent a broad range of disciplines and stakeholder communities including “producers, representatives of national farm organizations, agricultural economists, rural sociologists, farm policy analysts, educators, State agriculture representatives, and agriculture-related business and marketing experts.” Nominations are due by November 30. More information is available in the Federal Register notice. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program Renamed “All of Us” Research Program
On October 12, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort Program has been renamed the All of Us Research Program. The name change, according to the announcement, reflects the study’s core values, which include “participation is open to all; participants reflect the rich diversity of the U.S.; participants are partners; participants have access to their information; data will be accessed broadly for research purposes; security and privacy will be of highest priority; and the program will be a catalyst for positive change in research.” The program’s name change also incorporates the feedback NIH…
NIH Releases Five-Year Rehabilitation Research Plan
After two years of planning and soliciting public input, the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) within the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation. The government-wide plan, coordinated by NCMRR, addresses the need for rehabilitation research; NIH’s investment in rehabilitation research; current medical rehabilitation research activities at NIH; opportunities, needs, and priorities; and NIH’s coordination with other federal agencies. Seventeen NIH institutes and centers support rehabilitation research, and the plan “calls for the continuation of programs to understand the…
NIH Seeks Information on Research Supplement to Promote Workforce Diversity in Small Business
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting input on a “proposed new supplement to facilitate participation of women and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in small businesses” through the congressionally-mandated Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The request for information (RFI), Research Supplement to Promote Workforce Diversity in Small Businesses (NOT-OD-17-008), notes that although SBIR/STTR awardees are eligible to apply for diversity supplements, the participation rates in the program are very low. Accordingly, the agency is seeking input to understand the barriers preventing these populations from participating in the “existing diversity supplement program…
NINDS to Hold Informational Webinars on Diversity Career Development Awards
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting a series of webinars for potential applicants and mentors to its Mentored Career Development Awards to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience (PAR-16-220 and PAR-16-219). The Institute’s Faculty Development Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research is designed to provide “an intensive, supervised career development and scientific mentoring experience for promising junior investigators… from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research.” The award also provides protected time from teaching and other duties in addition to providing resources intended to hone awardees’ skills in grant writing and…
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…
NSF SBE Directorate Releases Dear Colleague Letter on Robust and Reliable Research, Invites Proposal Submissions
On September 20, Dr. Fay Lomax Cook, Assistant Director for the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF), released a Dear Colleague Letter on “Robust and Reliable Research in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences”. The letter announces the SBE Directorate’s interest in stimulating research to enhance the reliability and robustness of research in these areas of science. To accomplish this goal, the SBE Directorate has invited proposals on a variety of topics to its standing programs including: “Research to determine the extent of, causes of, or remedies for research in the social,…
NSF Seeks Deputy Division Director for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
The Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking a Deputy Division Director for the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS). The Deputy Division Director will serve as a member of the BCS leadership team and as the “principal spokesperson in the area of behavioral and cognitive sciences.” More information can be found at USAJOBS. The deadline for applications is November 28, 2016. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH Recognizes Sexual and Gender Minorities as a Health Disparity Population
On October 6, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Director Eliseo Pérez-Stable announced the “formal designation of sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) as a health disparity population” for the purposes of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research. The Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-525) gives the directors of NIMHD and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) authority to define health disparity populations. The designation follows recommendations of a 2011 Institute of Medicine (IOM) (now the National Academy of Medicine) Committee tasked with assessing the current state of…
National Institute of Mental Health Releases Update of Strategic Research Priorities
On October 12, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released updates to its Strategic Research Priorities, which provides guidance to potential grant applicants, NIMH grantees, and NIMH staff “for the design and implementation of future research.” The priorities address the four strategic areas outlined in NIMH’s 2015 Strategic Plan for Research. The recently released Strategic Research Priorities highlight the use of common data elements, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, and NIMH’s experimental therapeutics approach. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIA Alzheimer’s Disease Research: ‘A Wealth of New Opportunities’
In a recent National Institute on Aging (NIA) blog, Inside NIA: A Blog for Researchers, Director Richard Hodes highlighted the latest concept clearances approved by NIA’s advisory committee. Hodes also announced that the Institute expects to release a record number of new funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) over the next several months. He emphasized that the FOAs that are developed from the concept proposals will involve “every NIA division” and, in “a number of cases, two or more divisions will co-sponsor an FOA.” Hodes encourages researchers to examine the list of concepts and begin to think about submitting a grant proposal….
NIH to Develop First NIH-Wide Nutrition Strategic Plan
On October 11, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nutrition Research Task Force (NRTF) announced that the agency will develop a strategic plan for nutrition research for the next decade. . The strategic plan, to be developed over the next two years, is expected to “emphasize cross-cutting, innovative opportunities to accelerate nutrition research across a wide range of areas, from basic science to experimental design to training.” In addition to soliciting feedback from the public and the scientific community, NRTF will appoint a senior leadership group to guide the plan’s implementation. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NCHS Seeks Comments on Redesign of National Health Interview Survey
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking comments on the redesign of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to be fielded in 2018. NHIS, which has been in the field continuously since 1957, is the “principal source of information on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized population” of the U.S. According to the Federal Register notice, “the redesign process presents an opportunity to (1) ensure the survey is capturing the current health and health care needs of individuals in the United States and producing data of the highest-possible quality;…