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.
COSSA and Partners Encourage Strong FY 2016 Appropriations
As Congress begins to consider funding for fiscal year (FY) 2016, COSSA has joined dozens of other organizations and coalitions on letters to appropriators in support of strong levels of funding for the federal agencies that support social and behavioral science research. Check our website for the most updated list of letters COSSA has joined. March 3: $172 million for the National Center for Health Statistics, House/Senate (Friends of NCHS) March 23: $7.8 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Coalition) March 23: $375 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, House/Senate (Friends of AHRQ) April 2: $633…
Members of Congress Call for Increased FY 2016 Funding for NSF, International Education
In a March 24 letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, 136 members of the House of Representatives called for $7.724 billion in funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for fiscal year (FY) 2016, a funding level COSSA supports. The letter, which was organized by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and David McKinley (R-WV), states, “As our competitors across the globe invest in developing modern and inventive labor forces, our country will fall short if we fail to invest in research now. We must commit to strengthening our research capacities and prepare future generations to…
Nominations Sought for USPSTF Members
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is inviting nominations for individuals to serve on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The USPSTF is an independent body of experts that makes evidence-based recommendations about the effectiveness of clinical preventive services and health promotion. Qualified nominees will have demonstrated expertise in the following areas: (1) critical evaluation of peer-reviewed research; (2) clinical prevention, health promotion, and primary health care; and (3) implementation of evidence based recommendations in clinical practice. In addition, expertise in the following areas is also desirable: Behavioral medicine Public health Health equity and the reduction of…
White House Releases Antibiotic Resistance Action Plan
On March 27, the White House released the National Action Plan for Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. The Action Plan outlines “federal activities over the next five years to enhance domestic and international capacity to prevent and contain outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections; maintain the efficacy of current and new antibiotics; and develop and deploy next-generation diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines, and other therapeutics.” The plan is consistent with an initiative in the President’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2016 that would allocate $1.2 billion to combatting antibiotic-resistance (see COSSA’s analysis). Back to this issue’s table of contents.
RFI: Optimizing Funding Policies and Other Strategies to Improve the Impact and Sustainability of Biomedical Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a Request for Information (RFI), Optimizing Funding Policies and Other Strategies to Improve the Impact and Sustainability of Biomedical Research, soliciting input from the scientific community regarding the possible development of new policies and other strategies to improve the impact and sustainability of the NIH-funded biomedical research enterprise.
RFI: Proposed Funding Priorities for Neuroscience Research, Input on High Impact and Cross-Cutting Opportunities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is seeking input from the scientific community on how the Blueprint might best accelerate discovery in neuroscience research. Specifically, the request for information (RFI), Proposed Funding Priorities for Neuroscience Research, Input on High Impact and Cross-Cutting Opportunities (NOT-NS-15-020), is seeking suggestions regarding how future Blueprint investments can have a broad impact on neuroscience and serve the interests of the 15 participating NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices that support research on the nervous system.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Strategic Visioning Initiative Seeks Scientific Community’s Input
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking the scientific community’s input in its Strategic Visioning Initiative. To help determine NHLBI’s future direction, the Institute is seeking the community’s participation in an “ongoing process that will inform its priority setting, decision making, and resource allocation.” The purpose of the Initiative is to develop the Institute’s priorities for the next decade. In the video launching the initiative, NHLBI director Gary H. Gibbons explained that he is asking the NHLBI community to help identify the most compelling questions and critical challenges that the…
New AAAS Study Investigates the Social Responsibilities of Scientists
The notion that scientists have a responsibility to society that goes beyond their responsibilities to the profession is long-standing. While there is a growing literature concerning the issues encapsulated by the phrase “social responsibility of scientists,” a review of that literature reveals many and sometimes competing views. What is more, to date there has been no empirical basis on which to define the content and scope of such social responsibilities. It is within this context that the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition, of which COSSA is a member, and the AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program decided…
ED: Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (April 28)
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is seeking applications for a new competition: Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship Program. The program provides opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in full-time doctoral research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. Only applications that propose research on the following geographic areas will be accepted: Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, South Asia, the Near East, Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and the Western Hemisphere (excluding the U.S.). Applications are due April 28. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Events Calendar
Southwestern Social Science Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, April 8-11, 2015 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 16-20, 2015 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 16-19, 2015 Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 21-25, 2015 Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions, San Antonio, TX, April 22-25, 2015 Population Association of America Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, April 30-May 2, 2015 American Association for Public Opinion Research Annual Conference, Hollywood, FL, May 14-17, 2015 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, May 28-31, 2015 A list of COSSA…
Let Out Your Inner Behavioral & Social Scientist – OBSSR Issues Call for Videos
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015. The celebration includes a call to social and behavioral scientists to submit videos that showcase their research. The best videos will be featured at the OBSSR 20th Anniversary Research Symposium on June 25, at the NIH William H. Natcher Conference Center and on the OBSSR’s website throughout 2015. A letter of intent to submit a video is required by April 15, 2015. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2015.
NIMH Releases Strategic Plan for Research
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released its Strategic Plan for Research which will guide the Institute’s research priorities over the next five years, from basic science of the brain and behavior, to public health impact. This plan updates the objectives of the 2008 strategic plan. Its aim is to balance the need for long-term investments in basic research with urgent medical health needs.
House Subcommittee Discusses CDC Budget; Director Questioned on Gun Violence, HIV/AIDS Research
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies met on March 25 to consider the administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget proposal for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In attendance was CDC Director Thomas Frieden, accompanied by Beth Bell, Director of the CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases, and Anne Schuchat, Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) praised the CDC in his opening statement for protecting public health in the U.S. and abroad. He…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 5
Featured News Summaries Available from COSSA Annual Meeting COSSA in Action COSSA Joins Coalitions Requesting Strong FY 2016 Appropriations Congressional News House Funding Panel Discusses NSF Budget, Social Science Funding House Appropriations Funding Panel Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services Discusses NIH Budget Senate HELP Committee Examines ‘U.S. Leadership in Medical Innovation,’ NIH/FDA Budgets House Panel Discusses Department of Education’s FY 2016 Budget Request Federal Agency & Administration News NSF Releases Public Access Plan NIGMS Releases 2015-2020 Strategic Plan White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team Seeks Fellows and Associates Publications & Community Events COSSA/CPR Sponsor “NIH 101” Congressional…
Summaries Available from COSSA Annual Meeting
Thank you to all who attended the 2015 COSSA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on March 9-10. Summaries and presentations from several of the sessions are available on the Annual Meeting webpage. Speakers included France Cordova, Director of the National Science Foundation, William Riley, Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, among others. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Joins Coalitions Requesting Strong FY 2016 Appropriations
As Congress begins to consider funding for fiscal year (FY) 2016, COSSA has joined dozens of other organizations and coalitions on letters to appropriators in support of strong levels of funding for the federal agencies that support social and behavioral science research. Check our website for the most updated list of letters COSSA has joined. February 25: $1.5 billion for the Census Bureau – House/Senate (Census Project) February 27: $29 million for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics March 3: $32 billion for the National Institutes of Health (Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research) March 6: $703.6 million for the Institute…
NSF Releases Public Access Plan
On March 18, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a framework for increasing public access to federally-funded scientific research results made possible through NSF support. The plan aligns with a 2013 memorandum issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which called on each federal agency to develop public access plans. The NSF plan calls for “versions of record” or final manuscripts accepted to peer-reviewed journals to be deposited into a publicly accessible repository (designated by NSF) and be available for download free of charge within 12 months of initial publication. The guidance will apply to new awards in 2016….
NIGMS Releases 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) recently released its 2015 -2020 strategic plan. According to NIGMS director Jon Lorsch, the plan outlines the Institute’s priorities and activities, including “the goals, objectives and implementation strategies that the Institute—in partnership with the scientific community at universities, professional societies and other federal agencies—will engage in over the next five years.” Additionally, the plan provides “snapshots” of specific institute priorities and achievements. In his director’s message, Lorsch emphasizes that the Institute continues to place “great emphasis on supporting investigator-initiated research grants” and highlights NIGMS emphasis on “the…
White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team Seeks Fellows and Associates
The White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) has issued a call for fellows and associates to “translate insights from the social and behavioral sciences into concrete recommendations for how to improve federal programs, policies, and operations…” This activity was referenced in the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request (see page 5). Fellows tend to be researchers holding a PhD in a social science field who take leave from their university, government agency, etc. to serve in this position. Associates are researchers currently pursuing a PhD in a related field, or who have a Master’s degree plus two years or more of relevant experience. …
COSSA/CPR Sponsor “NIH 101” Congressional Briefing
On February 27, the COSSA-led Coalition to Promote Research (CPR) organized a Congressional briefing designed to provide an overview of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) peer review process and the types of grants funded by the agency. The briefing’s speaker, Keith Yamamoto, vice chancellor for research and executive vice dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is a leading molecular biologist and has served on the NIH’s Center for Scientific Review’s advisory committee, as well as other NIH advisory panels and peer review committees. Using contemporary biology, Yamamoto discussed the NIH priority-setting process…