Executive Branch News
NIDA Announces New Challenge: âAddiction Research: Thereâs an App for thatâ
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced a new Challenge/Prize Competition, “Addiction Research: There’s an App for that.” The objective for the challenge is to âpromote the development of innovative mobile applications (apps) for future addiction studies.â According to the notice, three prizes may be awarded: $50,000 (first place); $30,000 (second place); and $20,000 (third place). The NIDA Challenge is enabled by the DHHS IDEA Lab program. Challenge partners include U.S. General Services Administration; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Sage Bionetworks;…
NCATS Issues RFI for Input into Strategic Plan
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking the scientific communityâs input into the development of its five-year strategic plan. This is NCATSâ first strategic plan since its creation in the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-482). Accordingly, NCATS has issued a request for information (RFI), âSoliciting Input for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Strategic Planning Processâ (NOT-TR-16-002). NCATS âfocuses on what is common across diseases and the translational processâ emphasizing âinnovation and deliverables, relying on the power of data and new technologies to…
OBSSR Hosts Seminar on Video Games and Neuroscience
Neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, University of California, San Francisco, discussed his research and what he described as âthe new frontiersâ in video games and neuroscience. The November 5 presentation was part of the NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Seminar Series, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). Gazzaley noted that humans have longed been consumed with achieving high-level performance, particularly when it comes to physical fitness. However, when it comes to the human brain and improving âthose core functions that are really fundamental to what makes us humansâhigher order cognitive ability, perception,…
NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Seeks Input on 2016-2020 Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) has issued a request for information (RFI) (NOT-OD-16-018) seeking the broad input of the scientific community and the public, including academia, industry, health care professionals, patient advocates and advocacy organizations, scientific and/or professional organizations, and other federal agencies regarding the scientific priorities that should be considered as it begins its strategic planning process to update the Officeâs 2007 strategic plan for FY 2016 â FY 2020. OBSSR is congressionally mandated to âcoordinate research conducted or supported by the agencies of the NIH; and identify projects of…
NIH Announces Plans for ECHO Program
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently issued a notice, Announcement of NIH Plans for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program (NOT-OD-16-015), detailing the agencyâs plans for program, also known as the National Childrenâs Study (NCS) alternative (see Update, July 17, 2015). The agency reports that it intends to âsupport multiple synergistic, longitudinal studies using extant maternal/pediatric cohorts that represent a broad range of environmental exposures,â including behavioral and social exposures. According to the notice, âall longitudinal studies will collect a standardized, targeted set of data (Core Elements), such as demographics, normative development, patient/person reported outcomes (PRO),…
HHS Seeks Comments on New Objectives Proposed For Healthy People 2020
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking comments on the proposed new objectives for Healthy People 2020. The Department intends to use the comments to âshape the framework, objectives, and targetsâ of the initiative. Comments are being sought in the areas of family planning; preparedness; social determinants of health; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health. Additionally, the Department invites suggestions of âadditional objectives for consideration that address critical public health issues within the existing 42 topic areas of Healthy People 2020.â Comments will be accepted through November 13, 2015. More information is available here. Back to…
NCHS Releases First National Data on Electronic Cigarette Usage
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have seen a rapid increase in popularity over the past several years, leading to debate between those who see the products as a useful smoking cessation tool and those who are concerned about potential negative health consequences. To shed light on how prevalent e-cigarette smoking actually is, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has released the first nationally-representative estimates of e-cigarette use. The report shows 3.7 percent of adults currently use e-cigarettes, including 16 percent of current smokers and 22 percent of smokers who have quit in the past year. While only 0.4 percent of non-smokers…
NIH Blog Explains NIH Commons
Philip Bourne, Associate Director for Data Science (ADDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Vivien Bonazzi, ADDS Senior Advisor for Data Science Technologies and Innovation, recently penned a blog post explaining the NIH Commons, which is described by Bourne and Bonazzi as âa shared virtual space where scientists can work with the digital objects of biomedical research.â The ADDS office is responsible for leading the development and coordination of NIHâs data science vision (see Update, October 1, 2015). The blog post provides examples of current Commons initiatives and requests input from the scientific community on the Commonsâ concepts…
OBSSR and AHRQ Release Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have jointly released, Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights, which details what is known and remaining gaps in research âabout the effects of various behavioral and social factors on longevity, disability and illness, and the quality of life, primarily at the population level.â
NIA Director Reports on the Progress of Alzheimer’s Research and Funding
On October 26, Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provided a progress report on the development of a bypass budget to the National Alzheimerâs Project Act (NAPA) Advisory Council on Alzheimerâs Research, Care, and Services. The âbypassâ or âprofessional judgmentâ budget is transmitted directly from NIA to the President and Congress without being revised through the traditional Federal budget process. Hodes explained that a series of meetings between 2012 and 2015 provided the basis for the comprehensive set of priorities, milestones and budget estimates included in the congressionally-mandated bypass…
NIA Releases 10 Funding Opportunity Announcements Focused on Alzheimerâs Disease Research
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released 10 funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) in anticipation of a substantial increase in its budget for Alzheimerâs disease research. The topics of the FOAs are in the areas of health disparities, caregiving, epidemiology, diagnosis and prediction, molecular and cellular mechanism, brain aging, and clinical trials. Funding for the FOAs is available beginning in FY 2016. These FOAs have set-aside funds associated with them; as long as funds are available, they will be supported in FY 2016 through FY 2019. NIA director Richard Hodes provided additional details…
NIH/AHRQ Announce Policy Changes for Grant Applications
On October 13, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issued a notice (NOT-OD-16-004) outlining policy changes for grant applications, forms, and instructions beginning in 2016. According to the notice, the policy will affect the following areas: rigor and transparency in research, inclusion reporting, research training, data safety monitoring, and biosketch clarification, among others. The changes will occur in two phases. For more information about the changes see the notice. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
NSF Seeks Candidates for Division Director of Social and Economic Sciences
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting applications for the position of Division Director for the Social and Economic Sciences (SES) Division within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). The Division Director âprovides leadership and direction for the support of research and education activities that develop and advance scientific knowledge focusing on political, economic, and social systems and how individuals and organizations function within them.â More information on the position can be found in the Dear Colleague Letter from SBE. Applications may be submitted through USAJOBS. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Census Bureau Marks World Statistics Day
The United Nations has designated October 20 World Statistics Day. To commemorate the day, the Census Bureau has released a new infographic to highlight the many ways Census data helps fulfill the 2015 Statistics Day theme, âBetter Data. Better Lives.â Back to this issueâs table of contents.
USDA Starts Collecting Data on Post-Harvest Food Safety Practices
The U.S. Department of Agricultureâs (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), under an agreement with the Economic Research Service (ERS), has begun collecting data on food safety practices from fruit and vegetable packers and processors. The survey, the 2015 Produce Post-Harvest Microbial Food Safety Practices Survey, marks the first time since 1998 that USDA has collected such data. Information from the survey will be used to understand how businesses are implementing the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). In addition, ERS will use the data to document changes in food safety practices, examine costs associated with compliance with the FSMA,…
White House Holds Forum on Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing; OSTP Issues Memorandum to Agencies
On September 30, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) hosted a live-webcast forum on citizen science and crowdsourcing. The forum, Open Science and Innovation: Of the People, By the People, For the People, recognized that a small portion of Americans are formally trained as âscientists;â however, citizen science and crowdsourcing can âeducate, engage, and empower the public to apply their curiosity and talents to a wide range of real-world problems.â Participants in the forum included citizen-science professionals, researchers, and stakeholders from Federal, state, local, and Tribal governments. It also included…
NIH Seeks Comments on Strategic Plan to Advance Research on the Health and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Minorities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking comments on its FY 2016-2020 Strategic Plan To Advance Research on the Health and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM). The agency is developing a strategic plan to guide its efforts and priorities in SGM research over the next five years. The plan was developed after substantive analysis and integration of portfolio analyses, community input, inter- and intra-agency collaborations, and recommendations from the NIH-commissioned Institute of Medicine report, The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding, released in 2011 (see Update, April 18, 2011)….
National Science Board Seeks Nominations for 2016 Class
The National Science Board, which is the policy-making body of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and independent advisory body to the President and Congress on federal science policy, is seeking nominations for eight vacancies with terms of 2016-2022. Eight seats on the 25-member Board turn over every two years; members are appointed by the President of the United States for six year terms. The NSB is particularly interested in receiving nominations of individuals with expertise in the following areas: large/complex facility planning, construction, management and transformation; international projects and the globalization of research; metrics and performance measurement; neuroscience and the…
NIH Associate Director for Data Science Discusses Opportunities and Challenges of Data Science
At the September 1 meeting of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) Council of Councils, Associate Director for Data Science (ADD) Philip Bourne discussed the opportunities and challenges of data science. Bourne began by asking: âWhat are we going to do with our data?â He explained that from his point of view, science is at point of significant change as a consequence of the amount of data that is being generated. Biomedical research is becoming more analytical, and scientific change is happening faster than anticipated as a result of faster accumulation of…
Michael S. Lauer Named NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research
On September 28, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins announced the selection of Michael S. Lauer as the new Deputy Director for Extramural Research. Collins noted that Lauer brings both research expertise and administrative skills to the job, as well as âkeen insights into the world of extramural research.â Lauer is expected to begin this new position within the coming weeks. Lauer served as the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences. Prior to that, he served as director of NHLBIâs Division of Prevention and Population Science, and most recently, the…