15 Years of Recognizing Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Excellence at NIH

The 15th NIH Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors will be held on Friday, June 3, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. This half-day event features a keynote address from the 2022 Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. David R. Williams, and highlights innovative research from five Early-Stage Investigator (ESI) Honorees, who were selected out of more than 250 submissions to our ESI paper competition.

Jessica Gowda, M.S.

Jessica Gowda joined the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) as a health science policy analyst in January 2022. Prior to joining OBSSR, Jessica spent 11 years as a lead scientific information analyst in the Division of Scientific Categorization and Analysis (DSCA) within the Office of Extramural Research (OER). DSCA, in conjunction with the NIH Office of Budget and other institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs), publishes the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) categorical spending reports on RePORT annually. These data tie the extramural grant and intramural business of the NIH to budgetary expenditures in support of scientific and strategic initiatives for congressional and public reporting. She oversaw the communication, outreach, and training team for the division and supported ICOs with their reporting tasks and portfolio analyses. Jessica holds a B.A. in Biology from George Mason University and an M.S. in Biomedical Technology Development and Management from Georgetown University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.