A staple since COSSA’s earliest days, the biweekly COSSA Washington Update newsletter provides members and the public with comprehensive coverage of policy developments impacting social and behavioral science research.
NIA Webinar to Provide Overview of Grants Process
The National Institute of Aging (NIA) recently announced that the institute will host an “NIH 101” webinar explaining the NIH’s grants process to interested researchers. Chyren Hunter, deputy director of NIA’s Division of Extramural Activities and NIA training officer will present the June 14 webinar. Hunter is expected to explain each step of the application and review process. The webinar is part of a series sponsored by the NIA’s Office of Special Populations. The registration form is available here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
National Science Board Elects New Leadership
On May 24, the National Science Board (NSB) announced that Maria Zuber and Diane Souvaine will serve as the Board’s new Chair and Vice Chair, respectively. Zuber has been a member of the NSB, the governing body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), for four years and is the vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zuber’s research includes planetary geophysics and space-based laser and radio systems. Souvaine has been a member of the NSB for two years, is the vice provost for research at Tufts University, and conducts research in computational geometry. Zuber and Souvaine will…
COSSA Welcomes North Carolina State University
COSSA is pleased to welcome North Carolina State University as its newest university member. NC State is a former COSSA affiliate member dating back to the early 1990s. The university receives roughly $6 million annually in federal social science funding. Welcome back NC State! COSSA’s full membership list can be viewed here. Information on how to join can be found on the COSSA website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Funding Opportunity Announcements
AHRQ: Developing New Clinical Decision Support to Disseminate and Implement Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Findings (R18) (PA-16-282) AHRQ: Scaling Established Clinical Decision Support to Facilitate the Dissemination and Implementation of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Findings (R18) (PA-16-283)
Events Calendar
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, June 2-5, 2016 9th Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Day: Real Life, Labs, Research, Washington, DC, June 20, 2016 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, June 24-26, 2016 Joint Statistical Meetings, Chicago, IL, July 30-August 4, 2016 American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO, August 4-7, 2016 Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, August 16-19, 2016 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, August 20-23, 2016 A list of COSSA members’ annual meetings and other events can be found on the COSSA website….
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35 Issue 10
Featured News Senate Committee Discusses U.S. Science Investments; COMPETES Bill Expected Soon Federal Agency & Administration News NIH Appoints Director of National Library of Medicine NIJ Seeking Chief Research Advisor Office of AIDS Research Issues RFI on Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research NIMHD Accepting Applications for Health Disparities Research Institute Publications & Community Events Mary Waters Delivers 2016 David Lecture Funding Opportunity Announcements COSSA Member Spotlight SSRC Seeks Nominations for Hirschman Prize Events Calendar
NIH Appoints Director of National Library of Medicine
On May 11, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced the appointment of Patricia Flatly Brennan as the new director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The Lillian L. Moehlman Bascom Professor at the School of Nursing and College of Engineering, Brennan comes to the NIH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she leads the Living Environments Laboratory at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. A pioneer in the development of information systems for patients, she developed ComputerLink, “an electronic network designed to reduce isolation and improve self-care among home care patients.” Brennan is expected to join the…
NIJ Seeking Chief Research Advisor
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is looking to hire a Chief Research Advisor tasked with leading the development and implementation of a new initiative that will “build in-house research capacity in law enforcement agencies.” According to the listing, “NIJ is looking for a social science researcher with a commitment to partnering with law enforcement to produce applicable, impactful research and analysis that addresses the field’s highest priority needs and advances policy and practice. The selected applicant will manage NIJ’s newest effort to partner with interested law enforcement agencies to identify their in-house capacity for research and analysis, review data…
Office of AIDS Research Issues RFI on Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research (OAR) in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) recently issued a request-for-information (RFI) (NOT-OD-16-089) seeking input on the fiscal year (FY) 2018 Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research. The 2018 Plan is “designed to identify and articulate possible future directions to maximize benefits of investments in HIV/AIDS research.” In August 2015, NIH issued “new overarching priorities” for the next three to five years for HIV/AIDS research in a Notice, NIH HIV/AIDS Research Priorities and Guidelines for Determining AIDS Funding (NOT-OD-15-137). The Notice also outlined guidelines the agency…
NIMHD Accepting Applications for Health Disparities Research Institute
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applicants to its Summer Institute on Health Disparities Science. The Institute which will be held on the NIH campus from August 15-19, 2016, is designed to “support the development of individual research projects by promising scientists early in their careers and … stimulate research in the disciplines supported by science on minority health and health disparities.” The course includes lectures, seminars, and small group discussions on research relevant to minority health and health disparities along with sessions by NIH scientific staff…
Mary Waters Delivers 2016 David Lecture
On May 3, 2016, Mary C. Waters, M.E. Zukerman Professor and former chair of Sociology at Harvard University, delivered the Spring 2016 Henry and Bryna David Lecture at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The David Lecture highlights innovative social and behavioral science research by inviting leading scholars to contribute an article to Issues in Science and Technology and present at the National Academies. Waters’ talk, titled “The War on Crime and The War on Immigrants: New Forms of Legal Exclusion and Discrimination in the U.S.” drew from two major recent Academies reports, The Growth of Incarceration in…
SSRC Seeks Nominations for Hirschman Prize
The Social Science Research Council, a COSSA member, is inviting nominations for its highest honor – the Albert O. Hirschman Prize. The Hirschman Prize recognizes excellence in social science research, theory, and public communication. Nominations are requested by June 15 and should be submitted to hirschmanprize@ssrc.org along with information on the nominator, a brief statement of commendation, and the nominee’s curriculum vitae or links to the nominee’s website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Funding Opportunity Announcements
NIFA: Effective Mitigation Strategies for Antimicrobial Resistance/5-Year Assessment of AFRI Food Safety Challenge Area (AFRI Food Safety Challenge Area) (USDA-NIFA-AFRI-005802) NIFA: Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities (AFRI Foundational Program) (USDA-NIFA-AFRI-005843) ED: Investing in Innovation Fund: Validation Grants ED: Investing in Innovation Fund: Scale-up Grants NIH opportunities: NIA: Aging Research to Address Health Disparities (Admin Supplement) (PA-16-225) NIH: Health Services Research on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01) (PAR-16-221), (R21) (PAR-16-222) [NIMHD, NIAAA, NIDA] NIDA: NIDA Research Education Program for Clinical Researchers and Clinicians (R25) (PAR-16-224) NCI: Innovative Approaches to Studying Cancer Communication in the New Media Environment (R21) (PAR-16-248), (R01)…
Events Calendar
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, June 2-5, 2016 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, June 24-26, 2016 Joint Statistical Meetings, Chicago, IL, July 30-August 4, 2016 American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO, August 4-7, 2016 Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, August 16-19, 2016 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, August 20-23, 2016 A list of COSSA members’ annual meetings and other events can be found on the COSSA website. COSSA members who have an upcoming event they would like to see listed in the Events Calendar and on our website should…
Senate Committee Discusses U.S. Science Investments; COMPETES Bill Expected Soon
On May 11, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing entitled, “Leveraging the U.S. Science and Technology Enterprise.” The Committee heard from a panel of experts in science and engineering representing the university and private sectors. The hearing was designed to inform the Committee’s efforts as it works to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, which is legislation originally enacted in 2007 to bolster U.S. investment in basic scientific research. The Committee has oversight jurisdiction for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other basic science agencies. Read on for full details and check out COSSA’s complete coverage…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35 Issue 9
Featured News Senate Bill Seeks Flat Funding for NSF, NIJ for FY 2017 Congressional News Senate Health Committee Advance Biomedical Innovation Bills NIH Appears Before Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Federal Agency & Administration News AHRQ Names New Director NIH Director Fills Vacancies for PMI Cohort and ECHO Programs NCHS Releases Health, United States 2015 NIJ Identifies Additional Topics for School Safety Research Initiative BTS Issues Quarterly National Transportation Statistics Update Funding Opportunity Announcements COSSA Member Spotlight COSSA Welcomes the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences Events Calendar
Senate Bill Seeks Flat Funding for NSF, NIJ for FY 2017
On April 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill. This bill serves as the vehicle for annual appropriations for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and countless other federal departments and agencies. The next step for the CJS bill is consideration on the Senate floor, which has not yet been scheduled. The bill would provide NSF with a total budget of $7.5 billion in FY 2017, flat with the FY 2016 enacted level. Most notably the Senate bill does…
NIH Appears Before Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
On April 7, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins appeared before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS), accompanied by five of the NIH’s 27 institute and center directors and/or acting directors. Attending were: Richard Hodes, National Institute on Aging (NIA); Doug Lowy, National Cancer Institute (NCI); Nora Volkow, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Walter Koroshetz, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); and Christopher Austin, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
AHRQ Names New Director
Andrew Bindman, a primary care physician and Professor of Medicine, Health Policy, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, has been named the new director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) effective May 2, 2016. His research interests focus on primary care and low-income individuals’ access to and quality of health care. Bindman’s previous federal experience includes a fellowship with the House Energy and Commerce Committee and several years as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Office of Health Policy and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services….