NIH
OBSSR Director Comments on 2017-2021 Strategic Plan
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Director William (Bill) Riley recently released commentaries on the officeâs 2017-2021 Strategic Plan three scientific priorities. Priority One: Improve the synergy of basic and applied behavioral and social sciences research Priority Two: Enhance and promote the research infrastructure, methods, and measures needed to support a more cumulative and integrated approach to behavioral and social sciences research Priority Three: Facilitate the adoption of behavioral and social sciences research findings in health research and in practice. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Ad Hoc Group Issues Statement Responding to the Presidentâs 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 Presidentâs FY 2018 budget request proposing a 18 percent cut to the NIHâs budget (see related article). The statement calls on âCongress to reject the inexplicable and impractical proposed cuts to NIH and to continue its tradition of investment in medical science.â The Group also stated that it looks âforward to working with lawmakers to finalize an FY 2017 spending package with $34.1 billion for NIH â as approved nearly unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee in June…
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…
Senate Committee Holds Hearing: “Saving Lives Through Medical Research”
While Congress has not yet completed its work on fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations, Congressional committees have begun holding hearing on agenciesâ FY 2018 budgets. On March 8, the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) held a hearing, âSaving Lives Through Medical Research,â to discuss the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Hearing witnesses included Thomas J. Grabowski, Jr., University of Washington School of Medicine; Timothy J. Eberlein, Washington University, St. Louis; Jennifer M. Sasser, University of Mississippi Medical Center; and Stacey Schultz-Cherry, St. Jude Childrenâs Research Hospital.
House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Lawmakersâ Priorities
Reviving the Appropriations Committeeâs tradition of holding hearings to allow members of Congress to testify on their priorities within a subcommitteeâs jurisdiction, on March 1, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) heard testimony from Members of Congress on their priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Throughout the course of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) continually urged members to âcontinue to advocate for their priorities.â Otherwise, Cole cautioned, the Subcommittee would have to âlive within the allocationâ it is given by the budget committee….
NIA Issues RFIs for Alzheimerâs Disease Bypass Budget and on Enhancing Timely Sharing of Data
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued two requests for information (RFI). The first is a time-sensitive RFI, Planning for NIA’s FY 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Bypass Budget (NOT-AG-17-005). The Institute is seeking comments and input for the Instituteâs use in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 NIH Alzheimerâs Disease Bypass Budget (ADBB), particularly in identifying and establishing research priorities for the FY 2019 ADBB. The ADBB is congressionally mandated via the FY 2015 Consolidated and Furthering Continuing Appropriations Act. NIH is further mandated to update the ADBB annually through FY 2025. In addition…
NIA Seeks Applicants for its 2017 Butler-Williams Scholars Program
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is accepting applications for its 2017 Butler-Williams Scholars Program. The Institute is particularly interested in receiving applications from emerging researchers, âincluding those who may have had limited previous involvement in research on aging.â An activity within the NIA Office of Special Populations, the program emphasizes its interest in researchers involved and/or interested in health disparities research related to aging. Applications are due by March 24th, 2017. Back to this issueâs 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.
Date Change: 10th Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors
The date for the National Institutes of Healthâs (NIH) 10th Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors has been changed to April 25 on the NIH campus. The Honors program pays tribute to the âresearch trajectory and continuing influence of Dr. Matilda White Riley in the behavioral and social sciences across and beyondâ the NIH. For more information about the program see the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Researchâs website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIHâs All of Us Research Program Issues Funding Opportunity
The National Institutes of Healthâs (NIH) All of Us Research Program (formerly the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program) within NIH Office of the Director has issued a new funding opportunity for organizations interested in helping engage volunteers. The funding opportunity is open to national and regional organizations, as well as local community groups. The program is designed to support activities to promote enrollment and retention in the All of Us Research Program across diverse communities. All of Us, unlike the majority of NIH-supported research, is not focused on a particular disease or population. The program is intended to âserve as a…
National Institute on Aging Seeks Input on Timely Data Sharing
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking input from the scientific community on âways to enhance the timely sharing of high-quality data generated by NIA-funded studies.â Accordingly, the Institute has issued a request for information (RFI) (NOT-AG-17-001) regarding âunique considerationsâ that might exist for this research as well as what the extramural research community believes are âthe primary characteristics of successful data-sharing resources and strategies.â The information received by the institute will be used to inform its future policy development. Comments are due April 15, 2017. For more information and/or to comment…
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…
NIH Director to Stay with Trump AdministrationâFor Now
On January 19, the last day of the Obama Administration, Science and other media outlets reported that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins will continue as the agencyâs director for the foreseeable future. As previously reported, in December, the Republican leadership of the committees with jurisdiction over the NIH sent a letter to the Trump transition team endorsing his retention as the NIHâs director. Had he not been asked to stay, Collinsâ resignation would have automatically taken effect on January 20. It remains unclear, however, if Collins is among the 50 Obama Administration officials reportedly asked to continue…
OBSSR Director Discusses Implications of the New NIH Clinical Trials Policies for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
In September 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a new NIH policy that requires the submission of grant applications requesting support for clinical trials in response to clinical trial-specific funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). According to the NIH, the purpose of the new is policy is to improve the NIHâs âability to identify proposed clinical trials, ensure that key pieces of trial-specific information are submitted with each application, and uniformly apply trial-specific review criteria.â The new policy goes into effect September 27, 2017. Subsequently, all applications must be submitted in response to a clinical trial-specific FOA. Any applications not…
2017 Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Paper Awards: Call for Papers
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) has issued a call for papers/articles for its Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Paper Awards. The Paper Awards was launched in 2016.This yearâs ceremony scheduled for May 5 is the 10th anniversary of Matilda White Riley Day, which commemorates Matilda White Rileyâs contributions to the NIH and to behavioral and social sciences research. Awards will be presented on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The deadline for submission is February 1, 2017. Awardees will be notified March 8, 2017. For more information, including on past…
Federal Agencies Clarify Programmatic Goals and Specific Interests for Multiscale Modeling Initiative
In December 2016, seven federal agencies–National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR)–released a notice (NOT-EB-16-011) clarifying the programmatic goals and specific interests of the interagency funding opportunity announcement Predictive Multiscale Models for Biomedical, Biological, Behavioral, Environmental and Clinical Research (PAR-15-085). See the notice for full details. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
21st Century Cures Act Becomes Law
In a display of bipartisanship, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act. The House overwhelmingly passed an updated version of the bill (H.R. 34) on November 30 by a vote of 392 to 26. On December 7, the Senate followed suit with its consideration of the bill and passed it by a recorded vote of 94 to 5. President Obama signed the bill on December 13. The comprehensive bill provides an infusion of funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve drugs and devices with greater urgency, provides resources…
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 Trumpâs transition team, urging the new administration to retain National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins. The chairmen state that Collins is the âright person, at the right timeâ to lead the NIH. They further emphasized that âunder his leadership with Congressâ commitment to biomedical research as a national priority, the National Institutes of Health…
Healthier Lives Through Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: NIH OBSSR Releases Strategic Plan for 2017-2021
On November 23, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) officially released its Strategic Plan 2017-2021. The plan focuses on the scientific priorities and fundamental research challenges that âOBSSR is uniquely positioned to address,â according to OBSSR Director William Riley. The overarching theme of the three âequally important scientific priorities identified in the plan ⊠is to encourage a more cumulative and integrated behavioral and social science research enterprise that extends from basic science through the adoption of approaches to improve the nation’s health.â Specifically, the three priorities are: Improve the synergy of…