| The office plays a leadership role in developing ideas for initiatives and in gaining the support for them within the NIH Institutes. Although the OBSSR does not have grant-making authority, it has been active in organizing and, more recently, in funding (through transfers to the NIH Institutes) trans-NIH and trans-agency Requests for Applications (RFAs) and Program Announcements (PAs).
OBSSR will be developing and participating in funding initiatives directed at reducing health disparities.
Minority populations in the United States continue to experience substantial disparities in the burden of disease and death when compared to the majority population. Because the existence of racial and ethnic health disparities are to a large extent due to the influence of behavioral and social, rather than biological factors, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is committed to developing better knowledge of their specific causes and participating in finding solutions. For information about the NIH Strategic Plan for reducing Health Disparities, select this link (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
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