Health Scientist Administrator
Email: sydney.o'connor@nih.gov
Phone: 240-276-6950
Brief Biography
Dr. Sydney O’Connor joined the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) as a is a Health Scientist Administrator in September 2022. In this role, she supports the OBSSR mission to enhance the impact of health-related behavioral and social sciences research, coordinate and integrate these sciences within the larger NIH research enterprise and communicate health-related behavioral and social sciences research findings to various stakeholders. She is co-chair of the Health Behavior Theories Workgroup, which aims to identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities in the advancement of health behavior theories. Prior to joining OBSSR, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Cancer Prevention Fellow Program at the National Cancer Institute, where her research and programmatic activities focused on chrononutrition, obesity, and cancer prevention and control. Dr. O’Connor received a BA in Psychology & Linguistics from Northeastern University, and a PhD in Health Behavior Research from the University of Southern California. Her doctoral work used mHealth approaches, including ecological momentary assessment and actigraphy, to examine environmental, biopsychosocial and behavioral correlates of weight trajectories among children and families.
