Science Community News
COPAFS Launches Search for New Executive Director
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) has engaged JDG Associates to conduct a search for a new Executive Director to succeed Katherine Smith Evans, who has led COPAFS for nearly five years. COPAFS advocates for the development and dissemination of high-quality federal statistics. More details on COPAFS and on the search are available on the COPAFS website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Ad Hoc Group Issues Statement Responding to the President’s FY 2018 Budget for NIH
COSSA, as a member of the steering committee of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, joined a statement responding to the President’s FY 2018 budget request proposing a 18 percent cut to the NIH’s budget (see related article). The statement calls on “Congress to reject the inexplicable and impractical proposed cuts to NIH and to continue its tradition of investment in medical science.” The Group also stated that it looks “forward to working with lawmakers to finalize an FY 2017 spending package with $34.1 billion for NIH – as approved nearly unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee in June…
IES Coalition Sends Letter to Appropriations Subcommittee Leadership in Support of Agency
On March 10, COSSA joined the Friends of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), a coalition of organizations committed to supporting the essential role of IES, on a letter to the Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee (Labor-HHS) in support of IES. The letter urges the Subcommittee to provide $670 million in funding for IES in fiscal year (FY) 2018. The letter also states that the request, consistent with other scientific coalitions, “builds on the FY 2016 final appropriations, accounting for inflation over the past two years as well as four-percent growth.” Back to this…
Friends of NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Submit Statement in Support of OBSSR
On March 9, COSSA, as co-chair of the Friends of NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (Friends of NIH BSSR) with the American Psychological Association (a COSSA founding member), submitted a statement for the record in support of the National Institutes of Health and its Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). The statement emphasizes that the behavioral and social sciences are integral to the NIH mission and highlights the fact NIH supports behavioral and social science research throughout its 27 institutes and centers. The Friends of NIH BSSR is a coalition of professional organizations, scientific societies, and research…
National Academies to Launch Study on the Future of Food and Agriculture Research; Nominations Sought for Executive Committee
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced a new study, Science Breakthroughs 2030: A Strategy for Food and Agriculture Research. The year-long study hopes to “identify ambitious scientific directions in food and agriculture made possible by incorporating knowledge and tools from across the science and engineering spectrum.” The study is sponsored by the Supporters of Agriculture Research (SoAR) Foundation, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Nominations are currently being sought for the study’s executive committee, which will author the project’s final consensus report, after seeking…
DBASSE Seeks Deputy Executive Director
The Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine is seeking a new Deputy Executive Director. More information on the position and application instructions are available here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
National Academies Releases Report on Dual Language and English Learners
On February 28, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures, a report by the Committee on Fostering School Success for English Learners. The report assesses the current state of English language education in the United States and offers recommendations on how to improve learning outcomes for dual language learners (DLLs) and English learners (ELs). Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states have a responsibility to address disparities in the educational outcomes of DLLs/ELs. The report contains 14 recommendations designed to inform policy and offers a…
Academies Board on Environmental Change and Society Seeking New Members
The Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is accepting nominations for new members. BECS focuses on research on interactions between humans and their environment. While members represent disciplines across the social and natural sciences, the Board is particularly interested in candidates with expertise on human-environment interactions, adaptive management, transformative change, and methods for integration of social and natural sciences. More information and instructions on submitting nominations are available on the National Academies website. Nominations are due by March 21. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Joins Scientific Community in Urging Approval of NIH FY 2017 Budget
On February 7, COSSA joined 260 patient, medical, scientific, academic, and research organizations of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research in sending a joint letter and fact sheet to the President and the House and Senate leadership. The letter urges the enactment of a final FY 2017 spending package that includes $34.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Federal agencies and programs are currently operating under a continuing resolution that expires on April 28. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NSF to Host The Arc of Science: Research to Results on February 15
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), of which COSSA is a member, are hosting The Arc of Science: Research to Results on Wednesday, February 15. The Capitol Hill event will highlight NSF-funded researchers and include remarks from Dr. France Cordova, the Director of NSF and leadership from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. See the invitation for details and to register. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events Accepting Nominations for Steering Committee
The Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events, a new organization of stakeholders seeking to improve our understanding, prediction of, and response to extreme environmental events, is soliciting applications and nominations for individuals to serve as inaugural members of its steering committee. Read on for more details on how the Alliance and how to submit nominations. Applications are due on February 28, 2017.
NAM Releases Report: Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice’s Committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity in the United States recently released a report, Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity, which reviews the “state of health disparities and explores the underlying conditions and root causes that contribute to health inequity.” Highlighting the need for additional research, among the report’s recommendations is a call on the funders of research (government, foundations, and higher education) to “support research on (a) health disparities that examines the multiple effects of structural racism (e.g., segregation) and implicit and…
Deadline Extended: Call for White Papers: Social and Behavioral Science for National Security
The Board on Behavioral, Cognitive and Sensory Sciences at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is leading a decadal survey to identify opportunities for the social and behavioral sciences to contribute to the analytic responsibilities of the intelligence community. This survey, sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, includes two separate calls for white papers. The deadline for the current call has been extended to February 15, 2017. This call is seeking input from academics and researchers in the social and behavioral sciences with experience in intelligence and/or insight into the needs and challenges of…
Community Launches the Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events
The framework for an informal public-private partnership, involving a wide array of partner-stakeholders focused on reducing societal harm from extreme environmental events, was announced today, Jan. 24, 2017, during the Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Seattle, Washington. Known as The Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events, this community-initiated and community-governed framework will bring together a broad group of collaborators– including researchers, operational practitioners, federal agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, non-profit organizations, philanthropists and entrepreneurs – to improve holistic understanding, prediction of and response to severe and hazardous weather. In addition, the Alliance…
COSSA Remembers Stephen Fienberg
COSSA was saddened to learn of the death of Stephen E. Fienberg, University Professor of Statistics and Social Science at Carnegie Mellon University, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a champion of federal statistics. More about Fienberg’s life and legacy can be found in his Carnegie Mellon News obituary. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Call for White Papers: Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security
The Board on Behavioral, Cognitive and Sensory Sciences at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is leading a decadal survey to identify opportunities for the social and behavioral sciences to contribute to the analytic responsibilities of the intelligence community. This survey, sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, includes two separate calls for white papers. The Board is currently calling for input from academics and researchers in the social and behavioral sciences with experience in intelligence and/or insight into the needs and challenges of the intelligence community with respect to the use of social and…
Lawmakers and Advocates Urge Congress to Complete its Work on Behalf of NIH
On November 2, the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, including COSSA, a member of its Steering Committee, sent a letter to House and Senate leadership thanking lawmakers for their “efforts to ensure that a robust, sustained investment in medical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a high priority.” A coalition of more than 200 patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry committed to enhancing the federal investment in biomedical, behavioral, social, and population-based research supported by NIH, the coalition urged Congress to provide at least $34.1 billion for…
O’Connell Named Next DBASSE Director
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine has announced that it has named Mary Ellen O’Connell as Executive Director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE), effective November 14. O’Connell is currently serving as DBASSE’s Deputy Director and will succeed Robert Hauser, who is retiring. In addition to serving in leadership roles on several Academies Boards, including the Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS); the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS); and the Board on Human-Systems Integration (BOHSI), O’Connell also led initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services and the…
Social and Behavioral Scientists Among New National Academy of Medicine Inductees
The National Academy of Medicine announced the election of 79 new members, including 70 regular members and nine international members. The newly elected cohort includes several members who work in the social and behavioral sciences. They include Anita Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania; Cheryl Ann Marie Anderson, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health, at the University of California, San Diego; Peter Brian Bach, Director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Laura L. Carstensen, Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in…
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…