December 16, 2021
Director's Voice Blog
Parting Thoughts on NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. I have been fortunate to serve the NIH’s behavioral and social sciences research mission for the past 17 years, and I have been privileged to serve as its Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Director of OBSSR for the last seven years. As I prepare to step down as OBSSR Director, I thought I’d reflect on some successes (and non-successes) and the challenges ahead.
From my early years camping and hiking as a boy scout, I was taught to “leave a place better than you found it.” With the contributions of many of you, I feel comfortable that I am leaving the NIH behavioral and social sciences better than I found them. As I reflect on my time at NIH, I am reminded how often I have stumbled into amazing opportunities to work with exceptional scientists to advance the behavioral and social sciences at the NIH. I want to highlight a few of these opportunities because they illustrate some of the accomplishments of the behavioral and social sciences at the NIH and beyond and some of the challenges that lie ahead.
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Recently published research supported by the NICHD took a closer look at the incidence of pregnancy-associated homicide in the U.S. Previous research using single cities, states, or other geographic subsets have shown that homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period. However, maternal mortality estimates do not include homicide and other violent causes of death. In this current study, researchers analyzed the first 2 years of nationally available maternal mortality data and reported the national prevalence of pregnancy-associated homicide.
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Social isolation is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, but what are biological mechanisms underpinning this connection? In a study funded by the NIA, NIMHD, and the Secunda Family Foundation, researchers explored this question among older adults by combining social isolation information with two biological markers of inflammation that have been linked to a range of negative health outcomes.
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Public health measures used to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has created changes to many family routines. Nationwide mandates in the U.S. were used to reduce large gatherings of individuals through closure of businesses and the cancellation of social activities. Thus, many family centered activities such as schools, parks, and engagement of social support were significantly reduced which caused changes to daily family routines such as food and eating patterns, sleep quality, and work changes (at home-virtual). The COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted maternal and child nutrition by altering feeding behaviors in the family environment. Researchers funded by the NCATS, NHLBI, and NICHD investigated changes in food related parenting practices before and during COVID-19.
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Notice of Special Interest (NOT-OD-20-079) Webinar: Research to Improve the Individual-Patient Level Interpretation of Patient-Reported Outcomes for Use in Clinical Practice
Webinar Date: Thursday, January 13, 2022
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
You are invited to attend a webinar focused on the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) calling for research to improve the interpretation of patient-reported outcomes at the individual patient level for use in clinical practice. This webinar will highlight the importance and background of this NOSI. Webinar speakers will provide a wide range of information, including examples of topics that are responsive to the NOSI, methodologic approaches that might be considered in addressing individual-level score interpretation, and information about receipt dates. The session will end with a panel discussion with colleagues from across NIH responding to audience questions.
This webinar is not intended to address questions about specific grant applications. Please contact scientific/research contacts for pre-submission questions or the assigned program officer for post-submission questions related to individual applications.
Following the presentation, there will be a brief question and answer session. Participants may submit questions in advance of the webinar to [email protected] by Monday, January 10, 2022.
Presenters:
Christine Hunter, PhD, ABPP (OBSSR)
Sandra Mitchell, PhD, CRNP, FAAN (NCI)
Ashley Wilder Smith, PhD, MPH (NCI)
This webinar is intended for extramural investigators at junior, mid, and senior levels, interested in learning about and apply to this NOSI.
This webinar will be archived on the OBSSR YouTube page.
For more information about this NOSI, please see the following resource:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-079.html.
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Applications for Mixed Methods Research Training Program Now Open
The Mixed Methods Research Training Program for the Health Sciences is funded by the OBSSR, and is the only program of its kind in the United States.
The program fulfills a national need for training in mixed methods and is a natural next step following the publication of the OBSSR "Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences." Selected scholars have access to webinars, resources, come to an in-person retreat to discuss their research project, and are matched with mixed methods expert consultants. This program has reported results in 3 peer-reviewed publications.
Mixed methods research is defined as the collection, analysis, and integration of both quantitative (e.g., RCT outcome) data and qualitative (e.g., observations, interviews) data to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a research problem than might be obtained through quantitative or qualitative research alone. Typical applications of mixed methods in the health sciences involve adding qualitative interviews to follow up on the outcomes of intervention trials, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to assess patient reactions to a program implemented in a community health setting, or using qualitative data to explain the mechanism of a study correlating behavioral and social factors to specific health outcomes.
An increase in proposals submitted to NIH using mixed methods reflects the growing awareness of the importance of this approach in addressing population and behavioral health.
Application due date: Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5pm ET. The MMRTP Retreat will be held in the Summer of 2021.
Learn More and Apply
Request for Information (RFI): Research Challenges and Needs in the Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Aggression
The NIH is interested in mechanisms related to the processes and outcomes associated with both aggression perpetration and the impact of aggression on victims. This Request for Information (RFI) is specifically requesting information to gain feedback, comments, and novel ideas from members of the scientific community to help identify the gaps and opportunities for research on the biobehavioral mechanisms of aggression and its interactions with other health risks.
All comments must be submitted through the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TLMC8BP
Responses must be received by 11:59pm ET on January 31, 2022, to be considered. You will see an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response.
Please direct all inquiries to:
Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz, Ph.D.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
Telephone: 301-402-3930
Email: [email protected]
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Application Period Open: 2022 Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials
The 22nd Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials will be held July 14 – 23, 2022 at the Bolger Hotel and Conference Center in Potomac, Maryland. The Institute is sponsored by OBSSR and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Applications are due by February 15, 2022.
The Summer Institute provides an intermediate/advanced course in planning, designing, and conducting high-impact randomized controlled trials of health-related behavioral interventions. It emphasizes programmatic research and prepares fellows to lead or collaborate on rigorous, high-impact behavioral trials and on systematic efforts to develop and improve health-related behavioral interventions. The Institute’s long-term goal is to build an outstanding scientific workforce that is able to plan and conduct the kinds of clinical trials that can change practice guidelines, health care policies, and third-party coverage for health-related behavioral interventions, and that can help to increase the role of evidence-based behavioral interventions in clinical and preventive services..
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:.
- Evaluate the evidentiary requirements of health care gatekeepers and the needs of stakeholders in health-related behavioral interventions.
- Formulate long-term goals for high-impact health-related behavioral intervention research programs.
- Use the best-fitting translational research models and intervention optimization frameworks to plan and conduct intervention research programs.
- Incorporate basic behavioral and social science findings and advanced methodologies in this research.
- Understand the role of interdisciplinary team science in high-impact behavioral intervention research.
- Produce a plan to disseminate the knowledge gained in this course.
Please send questions about the Summer Institute to Kenneth Freedland, Ph.D., Program Director, at [email protected].
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Advancing Environmental Health Equity through Implementation Science Virtual Workshop (February 28 - March 1, 2022)
The purpose of this NIEHS-hosted workshop is to explore how environmental health scientists can use implementation science to inform the development, adaptation, implementation and scale-up of interventions, practices, and policies to prevent and/or mitigate potentially harmful environmental exposures and ultimately advance environmental health equity.
Workshop Goals
- To bring together environmental health scientists and implementation scientists to define the current state of their disciplines in health disparities research and to discuss how implementation science approaches can be used to advance environmental health equity
- To identify research opportunities and gap areas to promote equitable implementation of evidence-based environmental health interventions in health disparity and environmental justice communities
- To identify resources, training, and capacity building needs as well as opportunities for collaboration to support the use of implementation science that advances environmental health equity
Workshop topics include:
- What Is Implementation Science & Why Does It Matter for Environmental Health?
- Implementation Science in the Context of Environmental Health Disparities & Environmental Justice Research
- Evidence-Based Prevention & Interventions
- Emerging Environmental Health Issues (e.g., climate change, disasters)
- Community & Multi-Sectoral Partnerships
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NIH Listening Sessions to Inform Efforts on Achieving Racial Equity
NIH launched the UNITE initiative in March of 2021 to address structural racism in the biomedical research enterprise. Through this initiative, NIH is holding a series of listening sessions to learn from external stakeholders about the full range of issues and challenges in advancing racial and ethnic equity in the biomedical research enterprise. Some of these issues include:
- Changing culture to promote equity, inclusivity, and justice
- Improving policies, transparency, and oversight
- Strengthening career pathways, training, mentoring, and the professoriate
- Ensuring fairness in review and funding deliberations
- Enhancing funding and research support for diverse institutions and historically under-resourced research areas
- Structural racism in the biomedical research enterprise
The insights shared during these listening sessions will help to identify priorities for UNITE and inform the development of an NIH action plan.
We recognize that we share common interest in these areas and hope you will join us in these discussions. We look forward to working with you to learn more about efforts at your organization and your unique perspectives as we seek to advance these goals across the biomedical research enterprise.
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Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Research on Community Level Interventions to Prevent Firearm and Related Violence, Injury and Mortality
Notice Number
NOT-OD-22-028
Key Dates
Estimated Publication Date of FOA: January 27, 2022
First Estimated Application Due Date: April 22, 2022
Earliest Estimated Award Date: September 1, 2022
Earliest Estimated Start Date: October 1, 2022
Purpose
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to publish one or more Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to invite applications for community and community organizational level interventions to prevent firearm and related violence, injury and mortality. Applications will be encouraged to include multiple levels of intervention and/or multiple sectors (e.g., health, education, justice) when appropriate and to be developed in partnership with communities and/or community organizations. Given that violence and suicide have a number of causes, NIH will take a comprehensive approach to studying these underlying causes and evidence-based methods of prevention of injury, including crime prevention. All applicants will be expected to fulfill requirements around open data, open code, pre-registration of research projects, and open access to research articles. Funded awards will support ideologically and politically unbiased research projects. Applications are not being solicited at this time, but NIH plans to publish one or more FOAs in December for funding to begin in FY 2022.
View NOT-OD-22-028
NIH HEAL Initiative: Preventing Opioid Misuse and Co-Occurring Conditions by Intervening on Social Determinants (R01 Clinical Trials Optional)
FOA Number
RFA-DA-22-036
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): February 2, 2022
Expiration Date: March 3, 2022
Purpose
In April 2018, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Helping to End Addiction Long-termSMInitiative or HEAL InitiativeSM, an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Through this initiative the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in partnership with other NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices, requests applications for studies designed to develop and test multi-level interventions to prevent opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and co-occurring conditions by intervening on social determinants of health (SDOH).This initiative aims to build an evidence base for multi-level interventions that target malleable factors and conditions affecting the social context. Applications must seek to reduce health inequities in a U.S. population or population subgroup affected by the opioid crisis by studying the effects of a theory driven, multi-level intervention on the prevention of opioid misuse/opioid use disorder and co-occurring conditions. Such conditions could include mental health conditions and/or suicide, and may also include other substance use and substance use-related outcomes. The research project must examine the mechanisms by which the interventions exert their effects, and conduct economic analyses to inform decisions about adoption of strategies. Investigators should study interventions that are sustainable and easily taken to scale if effective.
View RFA-DA-22-036
BRAIN Initiative: Research Resource Grants for Technology Integration and Dissemination (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
FOA Number
RFA-NS-22-011
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): January 15, 2022
Expiration Date: October 12, 2024
Purpose
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports efforts to disseminate resources for integration into neuroscience research practice. The resource(s) should be relevant to the goals of the BRAIN Initiative as outlined in the "BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision" and "The BRAIN Initiative 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures" and shared broadly to the neuroscience community. The resource(s) should address compelling needs of neuroscience researchers that are otherwise unavailable or impractical in their current form. Activities must include dissemination of an existing resource, and may include one or more of the following activities: distribution of tools and reagents; user training on the usage of new technologies or techniques; providing access to existing technology platforms and/or specialized facilities; minor improvements to increase the scale/efficiency of resource production and delivery; minor adaptations to meet the needs of a user community.Applications primarily focused on technology or software development and where broad dissemination is not planned to be initiated by year 2 are not responsive to this FOA.
View RFA-NS-22-011
Measures and Methods to Advance Research on Minority Health and Health Disparities-Related Constructs (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
FOA Number
PAR-22-072
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): January 5, 2022
Expiration Date: May 8, 2024
Purpose
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support research that will advance the measurement and methodology of complex constructs relevant to minority health and health disparities.
View PAR-22-072
Risk and Protective Factors of Family Health and Family Level Interventions (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)
FOA Number
PAR-21-358
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): May 5, 2022
Expiration Date: May 8, 2025
Purpose
The purpose of this initiative is to advance the science of minority health and health disparities by supporting research on family health and well-being and resilience. The NIMHD Research Framework recognizes family health, family well-being, and family resilience as critically important areas of research to decrease disparities and promote equity.
View PAR-21-358
