A staple since COSSAâs 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.Â
NIH Seeks Next Leader of Behavioral and Social Science
The National Institutes of Health has initiated a search for the next Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and NIH Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. OBSSR and its team serve as the âNIH focal point for establishing agency-wide policies and goals in behavioral and social sciences research, and coordinates the activities undertaken in the performance of this research.â The position was most recently held by William T. Riley until his retirement at the end of 2021 (see previous coverage). Dr. Christine Hunter, OBSSR Deputy Director, is currently leading the office on an…
NIH Issues Solicitations for Community-Level Solutions to Prevent Gun Violence
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), led by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), has issued a pair of funding opportunity announcements that will fund research related to preventing gun violence. These solicitations are enabled by Congressional funding for firearm violence prevention research first passed in fiscal year (FY) 2020 (see previous coverage). The first solicitation, Research on Community Level Interventions for Firearm and Related Violence, Injury and Mortality Prevention will âsupport a network of research projects to develop and test interventions at the community or community organization level that aim to prevent firearm and related violence,…
NIH to Hold Webinar on Social and Behavioral Health Impacts of COVID
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) Health Impacts of COVID-19 initiative will hold a webinar on April 27-28, 2022 to present findings from research funded by this program. Topics covered will include mitigation efforts, biological correlates, morbidity and mortality, social networks, disadvantaged populations, time use and families, and interventions. Full details about the webinar are available on the registration page.
OSTP Seeking Comments on Scientific Integrity Framework
On March 3, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking comments on the development of a framework of Federal policies for protecting scientific integrity from political interference, suppression, or manipulation. This RFI builds upon an earlier report, âProtecting the Integrity of Government Science,â which was released in January 2022 (see previous coverage). The RFI seeks info on four key areas of scientific integrity policy: How policies can address issues such as diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; Criteria to evaluate scientific integrity policies in the Executive Branch; How to ensure that…
National Academies Behavioral Economics Committee Holds First Meeting
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicineâs (NASEM) Committee on Future Directions for Applying Behavioral Economics to Policy held its inaugural meeting in early March. The Committee will conduct a consensus study to âdevelop guiding principles for applying behavioral economics research to policy, as well as a research program to support future progress, including possible avenues for collaboration across disciplines that could advance theory and method.â The meetingâs open session on March 1 featured presentations from two of the studyâs sponsors, Daniel Goroff, representing the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Christine Hunter, representing the National Institutes of Health Office…
Nelson, Collins Step in to Lead White House Science Efforts
On February 16, the White House announced the appointment of Dr. Alondra Nelson as the interim director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) effective immediately, replacing Eric Lander who stepped down last month amid allegations of workplace bullying. Dr. Nelson, a sociologist, is currently serving as OSTP Deputy Director for Science and Society. In addition, Dr. Francis Collins, who recently retired as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been asked to step in as the Presidentâs Science Advisor and Co-Chair of the Presidentâs Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Both Nelson and Collins…
Science Funding, Aid to Ukraine, and a Supreme Court Nomination
Congress will have its hands full over the coming weeks as lawmakers attempt to finish up fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills while also seeking emergency aid to Ukraine. Senators will have an especially busy schedule as they begin consideration of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. We are likely to see attempts to provide funding for Ukraine as part of a package that will also include the FY 2022 bills. As previously reported, Congress has until March 11 to complete the appropriations for the fiscal year that is nearly half over. The next few weeks will be critical for…
Congress Continues Focus on Mental Health in Subcommittee Hearing
On February 17, the House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the national mental health crisis and plans to address it. The hearing, overseen by Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Ranking Member Morgan Griffith (R-VA), is the third Congressional hearing in the past month focused on potential policy solutions related to mental health (see previous coverage for more details). The witnesses present at the hearing were American Psychiatric Association member and vice-chair of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco Dr. Lisa Fortuna, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University Dr….
NIH Seeking Comments on Upcoming Diversity Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking stakeholder comments in regards to the proposed framework for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) currently in development. This strategic plan is being developed in response to an Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce released in June 2021 by the Biden Administration. The framework currently names three major objectives of the strategic plan: Implement organizational practices to center and prioritize DEIA in the workforce; Grow and sustain DEIA through structural and cultural change; and Advance…
Bob Valdez Named New ARHQ Director
On February 22, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced that Robert âBobâ Otto Valdez had been appointed as the agencyâs director and would assume leadership responsibilities immediately. Dr. Valdez comes to the agency with a lengthy career in health disparities research and policy, having previously been the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of Interagency Health Policy during the Clinton Administration. He has also served as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Professor Emeritus of Family & Community Medicine and Economics at the University of New Mexico and led several global health initiatives focused on health promotion…
NSF Announces New âOpen-Source Ecosystemsâ Program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has established a new interdisciplinary program called âPathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystemsâ (POSE), which is intended to âharness the power of open-source development for the creation of new technology solutions to problems of national and societal importance.â The program will fund the establishment of entities to manage networks of open-source products and platforms with the goal of ensuring âmore secure open-source products, increased coordination of developer contributions, and a more focused route to impactful technologies.â The program will accept two types of proposals: Phase I projects, focused on âscopingâ the development of a potential Open-Source…
PAA to Host Virtual Briefing on Trends Affecting Rural Communities
The Population Association of America (PAA), a COSSA governing member, is hosting a Congressional briefing entitled âSmall Towns/Big Trends: Demographic Insights on Living, Working, and Thriving,â that will feature an expert panel presenting research regarding demographic, economic, health, and environmental challenges and opportunities facing U.S. rural communities. The virtual briefing will take place on March 18, at 12:00 pm ET. Participants can register for the briefing here.
FY 2022 Funding to be Delayed Until March 11
Congress has yet to enact final fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding legislation almost five months into the fiscal year. The federal government has been operating under a continuing resolution (CR) since October 1, 2021, which is set to expire this Friday, February 18. Last week, House and Senate leaders announced they had come to agreement on a framework that would allow lawmakers to complete work on the overdue annual spending bills. A new stopgap funding measure was passed by the House last week giving lawmakers until March 11 to complete their work. The Senate is seeking to pass the extension…
House Subcommittee Weighs Arguments for an Independent ARPA-H
On February 8, the Subcommittee for Health within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) held a hearing on the proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) with a heavy focus of the discussion on the structure of the agency within the federal government. Among other issues, members of the Committee heard testimony on whether a DARPA-like research agency should be housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as proposed by the Biden Administration or established as an independent agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Witnesses included Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and…
Congress Holds Hearings on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
Earlier this month, the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held hearings to discuss issues related to mental health, including youth mental health and substance use disorders. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy was the sole witness at the Finance Committeeâs hearing, while the HELP Committee featured Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association Dr. Mitch Prinstein (a member of the COSSA Board of Directors), Vice Chair of Education in the Psychiatry Department at Boston Medical Center Dr. Michelle Durham, Director of the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other…
White House Seeks Input on Update to AI R&D Plan
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is seeking input on updates to the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development Strategic Plan. The most recent update to the plan (2019) sets out 8 strategic aims for AI R&D: Make long-term investments in AI research. Develop effective methods for human-AI collaboration. Understand and address the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI. Ensure the safety and security of AI systems. Develop shared public datasets and environments for AI training and testing. Measure and evaluate AI technologies through standards and benchmarks. Better understand the national AI R&D workforce…
NSF to Fund New Research Data System Resource
The National Science Foundationâs (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) has announced the establishment of a new data platform to âmodernize data collection and management to maximize the scientific value of people-centered data, enabling efficient and innovative multidisciplinary research focused on serving society and improving the lives of people in the U.S.â Funded under NSFâs Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure II program (see previous coverage), the University of Michiganâs Institute for Social Research will establish a Research Data Ecosystem: A National Resource for Reproducible, Robust, and Transparent Social Science Research in the 21st Century. More details about the new…