Director's Voice
OBSSR launches the Training in Advanced Data and Analytics for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (TADA-BSSR) Program. I’m excited to announce that eight TADA-BSSR T32 grants were recently awarded, and these programs will initiate training for their first cohort of diverse trainees this Fall. These programs have already begun curricula development and will expand and refine their curricula over the next few years. They also will work together, sharing resources, holding cross-program webinar trainings, and providing their students with access to the faculty expertise and trainings available at each of their programs. Next June, they will hold their first summit on Behavioral and Social Science Research Training in Advanced Data Analytics.
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As seen in the current Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing is encouraged to mitigate viral spreading during outbreaks, however, the association between distancing and patient-centered outcomes has not been previously demonstrated.
Research supported by NHLBI capitalizes on the variation in state response to the Covid-19 pandemic (as defined by emergency declarations and school closures) to examine the relationship with the states’ response and Covid-19 mortality. The researchers estimate negative binomial regressions to test the association between timing of state emergency declarations and, separately, school closures, with mortality using 55,146 Covid-19 deaths.
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In a recent publication,
researchers funded by NIA, NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, NSF, and others, researchers developed a summary score for impairments in multiple senses (vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell) and evaluated its association with dementia in older adults. Previous research has indicated that sensory impairments are associated with dementia risk, but few studies have looked at the additive effects of multiple impairments in sensory function. The investigators studied a diverse group of older adults in the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, which is a prospective cohort study of well-functioning 3,075 Black and white women and men aged 70–79 years of age.
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A
study supported by NCI, NIA, and the Alzheimer's Association, tested the hypothesis that frequency of racist experiences among African American women negatively impacts subjective cognition function (SCF). Previous studies have shown that African Americans have higher rates of incident dementia and Alzheimer's disease than Caucasian Americans. Additionally, older African Americans perform more poorly on neuropsychological tests of cognition compared to aged-matched Caucasian Americans of similar ages in many studies of community and clinical populations. While controlling for education and socioeconomic status, both independently associated with cognitive function, may attenuate observed racial disparities, it does not usually eliminate them.
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NIH OBSSR Position Opening (GS-12/13/14): Health Science Administrator (HSA)/Social and Behavioral Science Administrator (SBSA)
OBSSR seeks a social or behavioral scientist with subject matter expertise in the social and behavioral sciences as they relate to health to serve as a Health Science Administrator (HSA)/Social and Behavioral Science Administrator (SBSA). The HSA/SBSA will help coordinate and accelerate innovative behavioral and social science research across diseases and the lifespan. OBSSR is particularly interested in applicants with research expertise in the social and behavioral processes that have their influence above the level of the individual (e.g., families, communities, organizations, social systems). The HSA/SBSA will participate in and lead NIH-wide scientific meetings and initiatives and provide expert scientific guidance to the OBSSR Director as well as the internal and external behavioral and social science community. The HSA/SBSA will evaluate, plan, and coordinate high priority research opportunities that are NIH-wide in nature and are vital to achieving the mission of OBSSR and the NIH. Through coordination and liaison activities across NIH, the HSA/SBSA will enhance information exchange, integration, and coordination of behavioral and social science research activities at the NIH.
OBSSR and the NIH are dedicated to building a diverse community in its training and employment programs. Contact: If you are ready for an exciting scientific opportunity and would like to know more about this position, please contact:
[email protected].
Apply: Applications will be accepted through the NIH Global SBSA announcement on USAJOBS. U.S. citizenship and a doctorate are required.
Opening and closing dates: 08/17/2020 to 08/21/2020. (MP) https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/576185500 (DE) https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/575758000
NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research
The NIH-wide COVID-19 Strategic Plan provides a framework for accelerating the development of therapeutic interventions, vaccines, and diagnostics. NIH will implement five cross-cutting strategies:
- Invest in NIH and NIH-funded researchers to increase fundamental and foundational knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.
- Speed innovation in COVID-19 testing technologies through NIH’s recently launched Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative which aims to deliver rapid, widely accessible testing strategies to the public.
- Participate in public-private partnerships—such as NIH’s Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership—and federal partnerships—such as Operation Warp Speed—to forge groundbreaking approaches that speed identification, development, evaluation, and manufacturing of promising candidate therapeutics and vaccines.
- Support studies on preventative treatments and behavioral and community prevention practices to identify and implement effective approaches for promoting individual and community safety.
- Ensure that diagnosis, treatment, and prevention options are accessible and available for underserved and vulnerable populations which have been at greatest risk for the most severe threats of the disease.
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National Institutes of Health Social and Behavioral Research in Response to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been mitigated primarily using social and behavioral intervention strategies, and these strategies have social and economic impacts, as well as potential downstream health impacts that require further study. Digital and community-based interventions are being increasingly relied upon to address these health impacts and bridge the gap in health care access despite insufficient research of these interventions as a replacement for, not an adjunct to, in-person clinical care. As SARS-CoV-2 testing expands, research on encouraging uptake and appropriate interpretation of these test results is needed. All of these issues are disproportionately impacting underserved, vulnerable, and health disparities populations. This Translational Behavioral Medicine commentary describes the various initiatives of the National Institutes of Health to address these social, behavioral, economic, and health disparities impacts of the pandemic, the findings from which can improve our response to the current pandemic and prepare us better for future infectious disease outbreaks. This commentary was authored by NIH’s William T. Riley, Susan E. Borja, Monica Webb Hooper, Ming Lei, Erica L. Spotts, John R.W. Phillips, Joshua A. Gordon, Richard J. Hodes, Michael S. Lauer, Tara A. Schwetz, and Eliseo Perez-Stable.
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Multimorbidity Funding Opportunity Announcements Technical Assistance Webinar
The National Institutes of Health is hosting a Multimorbidity Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) Technical Assistance Webinar on
September 1, 2020, from 12:30–2:00 p.m. ET. This pre-application technical assistance webinar will provide an overview of the two NIH Multimorbidity FOAs listed below. These FOAs are soliciting innovative research to better understand, measure, and intervene on multimorbidity, or multiple chronic conditions.
- PAR-20-179: Advancing Research To Develop Improved Measures and Methods for Understanding Multimorbidity (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
- PAR-20-180: Identifying Innovative Mechanisms or Interventions That Target Multimorbidity and Its Consequences (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Participation in the webinar is not a prerequisite to applying. A recording of this webinar and the slides will be available approximately 1 week after the session.
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Register for NIH’s Inclusion Across the Lifespan-II Workshop on September 2
NIH will virtually host the Inclusion Across the Lifespan-II Workshop: Implementation and Future Directions on
September 2, 2020. The workshop will feature lessons learned and discussion about the inclusion of pediatric and older populations in clinical studies and provide evidence-based practical advice to the scientific community. The event will bring together individuals with a variety of backgrounds in clinical study development and execution, with focus on pediatric and geriatric populations. Critically, there will be an emphasis on special populations (e.g. racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, rural/isolated populations, language minority individuals, pregnant and lactating women, people with co-morbidities, sexual and gender minorities, and other groups) across the life course. The workshop will be held via Webex.
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Emergency Awards: RADx-RAD Multimodal COVID-19 Surveillance Methods for High-Risk Clustered Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Notice Number
RFA-OD-20-016
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): August 30, 2020
Application Due Date: September 30, 2020
Expiration Date: October 1, 2020
Purpose
NIH is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in response to the declared public health emergency issued by the Secretary, HHS, for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). This emergency FOA provides an expedited funding mechanism as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Radical (RADx-rad) initiative. This FOA invites applications to pursue development and validation studies of COVID-19 surveillance methods, not based or focused on direct viral testing of individuals, in settings and institutions, including residential, with a high density of individuals who are together for prolonged periods of time. There are numerous promising technologies which could allow for multimodal surveillance inputs. However, these technologies are often not interoperable, not optimized for integration to increase robustness and not tested for general applicability to public health or for the specific need of high-risk population surveillance. Applications are invited that translate a combination of digital surveillance modalities into platforms that can assist the professional staff of high-risk facilities in making clinically meaningful care recommendations for patients at risk of COVID-19 or other respiratory viruses. Projects proposed may use strategies that incorporate ideas and approaches from multiple disciplines, as appropriate. The funding for this initiative is provided form the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, 2020.
View RFA-OD-20-016
Emergency Awards: RADx-rad Data Coordination Center (DCC) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Notice Number
RFA-OD-20-019
Key Dates
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date): August 31, 2020
Application Due Date: September 30, 2020
Expiration Date: October 1, 2020
Purpose
This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) highlights the urgent need to understand the social, ethical, and behavioral implications (SEBI) of COVID-19 testing among underserved and/or vulnerable populations across the United States through the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative. The overarching goal is to understand factors that have led to disproportionate burden of the pandemic on these underserved populations so that interventions can be implemented to decrease these disparities. The funding for this supplement is provided from the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, 2020.
View RFA-OD-20-019
