The festival highlights exciting research results, emerging areas, and innovations in health related BSSR. This NIH-wide event enables efficient leveraging of NIH resources and expertise. The BSSR-CC members contribute diverse and comprehensive perspectives on the NIH BSSR portfolio, thus facilitating the selection of an outstanding array of research results that are highlighted at the festival.
OBSSR Past Events
OBSSR organizes virtual and in-person meetings to showcase behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR). In collaboration with our National Institutes of Health (NIH) colleagues, federal partners, and the BSSR community, we facilitate opportunities to network, collaborate, explore, and advance BSSR.
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OBSSR Director's Webinar Series
This series showcases diverse BSSR topics, sharing the latest research findings to advance the field.
NIH Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors
This annual event celebrates early-stage investigators and outstanding social-behavioral scientists whose work reflects Dr. Matilda White Riley’s vision of research excellence in BSSR.
NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival
This annual event showcases cutting-edge research funded by the NIH, highlighting emerging scientific fields and health advancements in behavioral and social sciences. It keeps the BSSR community and our NIH colleagues updated on the latest NIH-funded BSSR projects and their impact on human health and well-being.
View the list of upcoming OBSSR events.
Past Events by Category
Director's Webinar Series | Matilda White Riley BSSR Honors | BSSR Festival | All Past Events
- December 8, 2022, 1:00 – 4:30pm | Online
- December 9, 2022, 1:00 – 4:30pm | Online
- September 27, 2022, 2:00 – 3:00pm | Online
OBSSR hosted a director’s webinar on Tuesday, September 27, at 2:00 ET. Dr. Falk, a professor of Communication, Psychology, and Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania, presented: Webs of Wellness: Connections Between Mind, Body, and Community for Making Change. We are facing global challenges including intertwined mental health crises, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, spikes in our collective blood pressure, more frequent and severe climate disasters, and the anxiety that comes with all of this. How do we maintain wellness and a sense of well-being in the face of all of these challenges? Dr. Falk presented findings from her recent interdisciplinary work in neuroscience, psychology, and communication science, aimed at understanding pieces of this question. She highlighted purpose in life as one psychological resource linked to wellness behaviors and described how sharing with other people can serve as a vehicle to shift norms related to wellness.
- July 19, 2022, 2:00 – 3:00pm | Online
OBSSR hosted a director’s webinar on Tuesday, July 19 at 2:00 p.m. ET, featuring Irene Dankwa-Mullan M.D., M.P.H., Chief Health Equity Officer/Deputy Chief Health Officer at IBM Watson Health. In her role, Dr. Dankwa-Mullan is responsible for the global strategy for driving and building a portfolio of studies to prove the clinical evidence for Watson Health cognitive solutions. She is a physician, researcher and public health leader with nearly two decades of experience in clinical research, public health, disparities and population health.
- June 3, 2022, 1:00 – 4:30pm | Online
The 15th NIH Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors was held on Friday, June 3, 2022. Overview: Matilda White Riley, Ph.D., was a celebrated scientist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, whose transformative work and leadership in the behavioral and social sciences at the NIH is honored annually by OBSSR. Initiated as an annual distinguished scholar lecture, OBSSR expanded the event in 2016 to recognize emerging scientists with a competition for peer-reviewed articles by Early Stage Investigators (ESIs).
- March 8, 2022, 2:00 – 3:00pm | Online
OBSSR hosted a director’s webinar on Tuesday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m. ET, featuring Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., FAED, Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders and Founding Director, UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Bulik has the first endowed professorship in eating disorders, and she has revolutionized the understanding of eating disorders, from the disorders being considered purely environmental, to our current understanding of genetic and biological underpinnings. Dr. Bulik presented her current work that is even further revolutionizing our understanding of weight.
