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 Year

2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

June 11, 2024, 12:00 – 5:00pm | Virtual

This virtual workshop will bring together diverse perspectives from multiple disciplines to explore advantages, barriers, gaps, and opportunities in the future of scientific conferencing for the behavioral and social sciences. Areas of particular focus will include technological innovations that enable virtual and hybrid approaches, and the impact of these approaches on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging (DEIAB) of participants and attendees as well as environmental sustainability.

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Agenda
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June 7, 2024, 12:00 – 3:00pm | Virtual

This virtual workshop will bring together diverse perspectives from multiple disciplines to explore advantages, barriers, gaps, and opportunities in the future of scientific conferencing for the behavioral and social sciences. Areas of particular focus will include technological innovations that enable virtual and hybrid approaches, and the impact of these approaches on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging (DEIAB) of participants and attendees as well as environmental sustainability.

Register
Register for the Workshop

Agenda
View the Agenda

June 6, 2024, 12:00 – 5:00pm | Virtual

This virtual workshop will bring together diverse perspectives from multiple disciplines to explore advantages, barriers, gaps, and opportunities in the future of scientific conferencing for the behavioral and social sciences. Areas of particular focus will include technological innovations that enable virtual and hybrid approaches, and the impact of these approaches on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging (DEIAB) of participants and attendees as well as environmental sustainability.

Register
Register for the Workshop

Agenda
View the Agenda

June 4, 2024, 11:00am – 3:30pm | Virtual
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and Adherence Research Network at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been hosting a series of workshops entitled “An Action Agenda: Promoting the Science and Practice of Health Behavior Maintenance.” The goal of this workshop series is to develop a more complete understanding of health behavior maintenance to promote and sustain health outcomes.
May 29, 2024, 11:00am – 3:00pm | Virtual

Several National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes, Centers, and Offices are partnering to host a two-day virtual workshop to explore the recommendations from a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report titled, Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research: A New Framework for an Evolving Field.

May 28, 2024, 1:00 – 5:00pm | Virtual

Several National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes, Centers, and Offices are partnering to host a two-day virtual workshop to explore the recommendations from a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report titled, Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research: A New Framework for an Evolving Field.

May 20, 2024, 1:00 – 4:30pm | Virtual
Matilda White Riley, Ph.D., (1911–2004) was a celebrated scientist and member of the National Academy of Sciences whose transformative work and leadership left a lasting impact in the behavioral and social sciences across the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and beyond.
May 1, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00pm | Virtual and in person on NIH campus, Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)
Presenter: Jenny Tung, Ph.D., Duke University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Our experiences in early life and our social connections throughout life strongly predict our health and our lifespans. Work in the last few decades reveals that similar patterns govern the lives of our closest living relatives, the non-human primates. These studies suggest that the social determinants of health in humans have deep evolutionary roots.

During her lecture, Dr. Tung considered our emerging understanding of this process, drawing on her work on both captive rhesus macaques and wild baboons. She reviewed the strong evidence that early adversity, social status, and affiliative ties in adulthood are central to life outcomes, suggesting that observations in humans are not an artifact of the modern human environment.

April 5, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30am | Online

Location: https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1603253848

The NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Coordinating Committee (BSSR-CC) was established to enhance information exchange, communication, integration, and coordination of behavioral and social sciences research/training activities at the NIH. The BSSR-CC alternates between closed and open meetings each month. In Open BSSR-CC sessions, the public, including representatives of professional organizations, are welcome to attend, and the content of meetings is restricted to those topics appropriate for public awareness or discussion.

March 19, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00pm | Virtual
Presenter: Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., Brigham Young University

Presentation topic: Social Connection

Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad is a professor of psychology and neuroscience, and director of the Social Connection & Health Lab at Brigham Young University. She is also the founding scientific chair and board member for the U.S. Foundation for Social Connection and the Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection.

She is an international scientific expert on social connection, the health effects, biological mechanisms, and strategies to mitigate risk and promote protection associated with social connection. Her research has been seminal in recognizing social isolation and loneliness as risk factors for early mortality.

February 2, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30am | Online

Location: https://nih.zoomgov.com/j/1604724315

The NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Coordinating Committee (BSSR-CC) was established to enhance information exchange, communication, integration, and coordination of behavioral and social sciences research/training activities at the NIH. The BSSR-CC alternates between closed and open meetings each month. In Open BSSR-CC sessions, the public, including representatives of professional organizations, are welcome to attend, and the content of meetings is restricted to those topics appropriate for public awareness or discussion.