A staple since COSSAās 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.Ā
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 āa shared virtual space where scientists can work with the digital objects of biomedical research.ā The ADDS office is responsible for leading the development and coordination of NIHās 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 Commonsā concepts…
Organizations Form Friends of NIMHD, Hold Welcome Reception for New Director
A diverse group of scientific societies and professional associations, including COSSA, have organized to create a coalition to advocate on behalf of the research supported by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). The newly formed group, the Friends of NIMHD, is an independent, voluntary coalition launched in 2015 to support the mission of NIMHD and its role in national efforts to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities. The coalition will serve as a united voice for a broad, diverse network of organizations, institutions, communities, stakeholders, and individuals who care about improving minority health and eliminating…
Kenneth Prewitt Receives SAGE-CASBS Award
Kenneth Prewitt, Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs and the Vice-President for Global Centers at Columbia University and a past President of COSSA, has been named the recipient of the 2015 SAGE-CASBS Award. The Award is given by SAGE and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University (a COSSA member) in recognition of āoutstanding achievement in the understanding and advancement of the behavioral and social sciences as they are applied to pressing social issues.ā Prewitt will accept the award at the 2015 CASBS Summit on November 5. Back to this issueās table of contents.
Events Calendar
CASBS Summit, Palo Alto, CA, November 5, 2015 Evaluation 2015, Chicago, IL, November 7-15, 2015 North American Regional Science Council Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, November 11-14, 2015 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall Research Conference, Miami, FL, November 12-14, 2015 Social Science History Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 12-15, 2015 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, November 13-15, 2015 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 18-22, 2015 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, November 18-21, 2015 National Communication Association Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV, November 19-22, 2015 History of…
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 āabout the effects of various behavioral and social factors on longevity, disability and illness, and the quality of life, primarily at the population level.ā
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 Alzheimerās Project Act (NAPA) Advisory Council on Alzheimerās Research, Care, and Services. The ābypassā or āprofessional judgmentā 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 Alzheimerās 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 Alzheimerās 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…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
AHRQ: Extension of Expiration Dates for AHRQ Fellowship (F) and Career Development Award (K) Funding Opportunity Announcements (PA-12-261 and PA-13-039) (NOT-HS-16-001) NIFA: Specialty Crop Research Initiative (USDA-NIFA-SCRI-005437) Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Evaluating High-Value Innovations from Low-Resource Communities NIH Funding Opportunities: NIH Common Fund: Metabolomics Data Analysis (R03) (RFA-RM-15-021). This funding opportunity announcement is intended to foster collaborations between bioinformaticians, biostatisticians, metabolomics experts, and/or biomedical researchers to promote the development of new or improved approaches to metabolomics data analysis. These are small, one-year grants āintended to complement the current efforts of the Common Fund Metabolomics Program and maximize the value of…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 19
Featured News House Science Committee Advances āNational Interestā Bill and Dyslexia Legislation Congressional News Budget Talks Progressing Slowly Amid GOP Leadership Vacuum Federal Agency & Administration News NIH/AHRQ Announce Policy Changes for Grant Applications NSF Seeks Candidates for Division Director of Social and Economic Sciences Census Bureau Marks World Statistics Day Publications & Community Events Academies Report Calls for Better Integration of Social Science into the USGCRP Funding Opportunity Announcements Events Calendar
Budget Talks Progressing Slowly Amid GOP Leadership Vacuum
Only 10 Congressional working days remain between now and the date the U.S. Treasury Department estimates the U.S. will have exhausted its āextraordinary measuresā and default on its debt. Originally estimated for November 5, Treasury now says that the U.S. will reach the so-called debt limit by November 3. These developments coupled with the recent surprise withdrawal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as candidate for House Speaker further complicate and likely delay budget negotiations that many hoped would be well underway at this point. Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) may be forced to delay his retirement, originally scheduled for the…
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 issueās 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 āprovides 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.ā More information on the position can be found in the Dear Colleague Letter from SBE. Applications may be submitted through USAJOBS. Back to this issueās 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, āBetter Data. Better Lives.ā Back to this issueās table of contents.
Academies Report Calls for Better Integration of Social Science into the USGCRP
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released a new report, Enhancing Participation in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The report offers recommendations on broadening participation of federal agencies in the USGCRP by identifying new partnership and enhancing existing ones. As part of its recommendations on better meeting the USGCRPās goal of advancing science related to global change, the report reiterates a call from the 2012 Academies review of the USGCRPās strategic plan that the program āābetter integrate the social and ecological sciencesā andā¦move toward āan integrated observational system that connects observations of the physical environment…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
NIH: Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Blueprint for Neuroscience Research: Training in Computational Neuroscience, From Biology to Model and Back Again (T90/R90) (NOT-DA-15-081) NINR: Personalized Strategies to Manage Symptoms of Chronic Illness (R15) (PA-16-006), (R01) (PA-16-007), (R21) (PA-16-008) Back to this issueās table of contents.
Events Calendar
Town Hall Meeting on the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects NPRM, Washington, DC, October 20, 2015 Census Project Briefing Call on 2020 Operational Plan, October 21, 2015 Evaluation 2015, Chicago, IL, November 7-15, 2015 North American Regional Science Council Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, November 11-14, 2015 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall Research Conference, Miami, FL, November 12-14, 2015 Social Science History Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 12-15, 2015 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, November 13-15, 2015 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 18-22, 2015 American Society…
House Science Committee Advances āNational Interestā Bill and Dyslexia Legislation
On October 8, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee advanced two bills that would impact the National Science Foundation (NSF): the Scientific Research in the National Interest Act (H.R. 3293) and the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act (H.R. 3033). Read on for details. The Scientific Research in the National Interest Act, sponsored by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), was derived from Sec. 106 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1806), which passed the House in May despite strong and vocal opposition from the broad scientific research community.Ā H.R. 3293 seeks to set a definition…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 18
Featured News Government Shutdown Averted, For Now Federal Agency & Administration News NIH Associate Director for Data Science Discusses Opportunities and Challenges of Data Science National Science Board Seeks Nominations for 2016 Class Michael S. Lauer Named NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research NIH Seeks Comments on Strategic Plan to Advance Research on the Health and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Minorities USDA Starts Collecting Data on Post-Harvest Food Safety Practices White House Holds Forum on Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing; OSTP Issues Memorandum to Agencies Publications & Community Events CPR Briefing Highlights NIH Peer Review Process SBE-Funded Researchers Receive āGeniusā…
Government Shutdown Averted, For Now
Congress was able to pass a continuing resolution (CR) on September 30, the final day of fiscal year (FY) 2015, within hours of a deadline that would result in a government shutdown. However, the CR simply kicks the can to December 11, the new deadline for coming to a final agreement on FY 2016 appropriations. While policymakers have provided themselves an additional 10 weeks to complete work on the annual spending bills, the path to the finish line remains unclear, complicated further by recent events like the announcement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) of his retirement at the end…
NAS Releases New Reports on Immigrants, Forensic Science
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has recently released two noteworthy reports. The first, The Integration of Immigrants into American Society, compiles the available evidence on āhow immigrants and their descendants are integrating into American society in a range of areas such as education, occupations, health, and language. The second report, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), examined NIJās efforts to advance forensic science research and recommend ways to improve its research program. The report, Support for Forensic Science Research: Improving the Scientific Role of the National Institute of Justice, finds, āNIJ has made progress in the past…