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BBRB Newsletter: Spring 2001Learn About the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) The U.S. Congress established the OBSSR in the Office of the Director, NIH, in recognition of the key role that behavioral and social factors often play in illness and health. The OBSSR mission is to stimulate behavioral and social sciences research throughout NIH and to integrate these areas of research more fully into others of the NIH health research enterprise, thereby improving our understanding, treatment, and prevention of disease. To fulfill its mission, the OBSSR engages in a variety of activities that include: developing funding initiatives for research and training; setting priorities for behavioral and social sciences research; providing opportunities for training and career development for behavioral and social scientists; linking minority students with mentors; organizing conferences, workshops, and lectures; and briefing key NIH staff on behavioral and social sciences research.OBSSR recently commissioned the National Research Council Committee on Future Directions for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the NIH to develop a research plan to guide NIH in supporting areas of high priority in the behavioral and social sciences. This report identifies a broad domain of questions at the interface of social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences, whose resolution could lead to major improvements in the health of the U.S. population. In creating a vision of future directions, the Committee emphasized research priorities that cut across institute boundaries at NIH, thereby underscoring the broad significance of behavioral and social science research for multiple disease outcomes as well as for health promotion. The background criteria guiding the development of priorities were that they should represent areas of great scientific opportunity and address pressing health problems, including health concerns of the general public. The report, New Horizons in Health: An Integrative Approach, which is now available from the National Academy Press, calls for new and expanded research, training, and methodological initiatives addressing such areas as: pre-disease pathways; positive health; environmentally induced gene expression; and the influence of inequality on health outcomes. To learn more about OBSSR and its activities, visit the OBSSR homepage: http://obssr.od.nih.gov. Back to Top |
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