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OBSSR Connector Monthly Newsletter - March 2024

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OBSSR Connector Monthly Newsletter - March 2024

March 27, 2024

Director's Voice Blog

The Science of Social Connection

Thanks to digital technologies, we live in an era of unprecedented connectivity. Yet, paradoxically, data indicate about one in two adults in America report experiencing loneliness. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated trends that were already in place, with young adults, people earning lower incomes, and people from groups that have been economically and socially marginalized more likely to experience loneliness.

Read Full Blog

Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Spotlights

Linkages Between Long-Term Nursing Home Stay, Chronic Pain, and Social Isolation

There are millions of nursing home residents living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Recent research has found that residents experiencing contextual isolation are likely to also experience higher levels of pain.

News and Events

Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials: Applications Open Now

The Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials provides an advanced course in planning, designing, and conducting high-impact randomized controlled trials of health-related behavioral interventions. The course is designed primarily for early- to mid-career scientists who are pursuing a career in clinical research. Applications are now being accepted until April 20, 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be emailed on June 1.

Learn More About the Summer Institute and Apply

OBSSR Reissues the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Training in Advanced Data and Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (TADA-BSSR) Program

OBSSR, along with several other Institutes, Centers, and Offices at the National Institutes of Health, has reissued a funding opportunity for the Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (TADA-BSSR) program.

TADA-BSSR supports behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) predoctoral training programs that focus on innovative computational or data science analytic approaches. The program aims to develop a cohort of predoctoral candidates equipped with the advanced analyticsary to navigate the increasingly complex landscape of big data in behavioral and social health-related research. The application submission period opens on April 24.

Learn More About the TADA-BSSR Funding Opportunity

New NASEM Report—Behavioral Economics: Policy Impact and Future Directions

A 2023 consensus report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) examines the evidence for behavioral economics and its application in six public policy domains: health, retirement benefits, climate change, social safety net benefits, climate change, education, and criminal justice. The report is now available online and concludes that principles of behavioral economics are indispensable for the design of policy and recommends integrating behavioral specialists into policy development within government units. In addition, the report calls for strengthening research methodology and identifies research priorities for building on the accomplishments of the field to date.

This report was funded by OBSSR and other Institutes, Centers, and Offices at the National Institutes of Health.

Read the Full Report

Recently Published Funding Opportunities

Predoctoral Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) - Institutional Research Training Program [T32]

Earliest Submission Date: April 24, 2024

View RFA-OD-24-012

NIH Blueprint and BRAIN Initiative Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) Award (F99/K00 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Earliest Submission Date: April 15, 2024

View RFA-NS-24-030

Clinical Sites for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network - 3 (UG1 Clinical Trial Required)

Earliest Submission Date: April 15, 2024

View RFA-OD-24-008

Data Coordinating and Operations Center for the ECHO IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network - 3 (U24 Clinical Trial Required—Infrastructure)

Earliest Submission Date: April 15, 2024

View RFA-OD-24-009

Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)

Earliest Submission Date: June 18, 2024

View PAR-23-294

View More Funding Opportunities

BSSR Accomplishments

The NIH has been an instrumental leader in shaping and supporting behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) to improve the nation’s health. Integrated with advances in other scientific disciplines, BSSR has made substantial contributions to the prevention or treatment of numerous physical health and mental health conditions.

In collaboration with subject matter experts from Institutes, Centers, and Offices across NIH, OBSSR has summarized some of the important scientific advances that demonstrate the valuable contribution of BSSR across various health conditions and behaviors. These summaries are provided as fact sheets that highlight a significant public health problem and the corresponding BSSR-informed approaches used to address the problem. Various audiences such as academic researchers, public health organizations, and other health federal agencies, may find these materials useful to demonstrate to their stakeholders the importance of BSSR to the health of the United States population.

View the BSSR Accomplishment Fact Sheets

BSSR Clinical Trials Resources

Clinical Trials Protocol Template for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
The Clinical Trials Protocol Template for the Behavioral and Social Sciences is a resource for communicating the science, methods, and operations of a clinical trial. This template is a suggested format for clinical trials that are testing a behavioral or social intervention or experimental manipulation. Use of the protocol template is encouraged but not required.

Decision Support Tool: Features to Consider in Determining If a Clinical Trial is Phase II or Phase III
This document is the result of a working group led by OBSSR, with participants from other Institutes, Centers, and Offices. It is a designed to be a resource to help investigators, program officers, and reviewers determine if a behavioral or social science study is better characterized as a Phase II or a Phase III clinical trial. Distinguishing earlier phases of clinical trials (Phase 0 or I) is not usually difficult but distinguishing between a Phase II and III study can be more challenging, particularly for non-drug trials. Being thoughtful about this distinction is important for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that a Phase III designation for an NIH funded clinical trial generally requires following additional policies and practices beyond those that already apply to Phase II clinical trials, such as the requirement for valid analysis and for a Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).

Good Clinical Practice for Social and Behavioral Research eLearning Course
In September 2016, the NIH issued a Policy on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Training for NIH Awardees Involved in NIH-funded Clinical Trials. GCP is an international ethical and scientific quality standard for designing, conducting, recording, and reporting clinical trials. The principles of GCP help assure the safety, integrity, and quality of clinical trials.

Phase III Trials
NIH’s definition of a Phase III Clinical Trial is quite broad, including drug studies, device studies, behavioral interventions, epidemiological studies, community trials, and more. Phase III trials are usually large, prospective trials that compare two or more interventions against other standard or experimental interventions. In this next episode of our NIH All About Grants podcast (MP3 / Transcript) we explain what a Phase III trial is, how it compares to other types of clinical trials, considerations for your application and its review, how these studies influence standards of care, helpful tools and other resources, and much more.

Learn More About These Clinical Trial Resources

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