APA's Science Policy Insider News November 2004

[Subscribe to SPIN]  CNSR at SASC In October, APA Science Policy Staff and scientific advocacy colleagues from the Coalition for National Security Research (CNSR) met with Republican and Democratic staffers from the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). Topping the agenda were a briefing on research provisions in the FY 2005 defense authorization bill and strategizing for FY 2006. Science Policy staff and APA members (including Bill Strickland and Nancy Cooke) were successful in working with SASC staffers to remove provisions from the final FY 2005 authorization that could have cut support for psychological research within the Air Force. NIH Updates Grant Review Criteria - Changes Take Effect in Summer 2005 In mid-October, NIH announced updated review criteria for evaluating NIH research grant applications. The criteria established in 1997 have been updated to better accommodate clinical, translational, and interdisciplinary studies. The updated criteria will be effective for all investigator initiated research grant applications submitted for receipt dates on or after January 10, 2005 [including those responding to a Program Announcement (PA)]. Beginning with reviews in the summer of 2005, reviewers will be instructed to use the updated review criteria as the basis for evaluating research grant applications and for assigning a single, global score for each scored application. The score should reflect the overall impact that the project could have on the advancement of science. The emphasis on each criterion may vary from one application to another, and an application need not be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have a major scientific impact. Read NIH's updated criteria for evaluating research grant applications View a comparison of the revised and former review criteria [back to top] Explosive Growth of Suicide Terrorism Brings Psychological Scientists to the Table Trying to understand and prevent suicidal behavior has been a core goal of mental health researchers for the past one hundred years. For most, self-preservation is deemed so primal that we just can't fathom the depth of despair or depression that would lead an individual to take his own life. But psychopathology is not a necessary precondition or correlate of suicidal behavior, and examining that behavior in context is revealing. In every war there are stories of self-sacrifice involving "suicide" missions in which death was a near certainty because of the risk associated with the battlefield circumstances. But in some wars death was an absolute certainty because it was the goal of the mission. In the latter, suicide was purposely coupled to homicide as a vehicle to inflict massive harm on the enemy. So, for example, Kamikaze pilots in World War II inflicted some 15,000 casualties, but whether the pilots were viewed as heroes or villains depended very much on whose side you were on. Read the full article from the APA Science Directorate's Psychological Science Agenda APA Staff Takes Advocacy Training on the Road The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) held its annual meeting November 4-7. The program, entitled "Sexual Science and Politics: Mutual Interactions", covered a broad range of issues in sexuality research, but highlighted the current impact of politics on sexuality research. Karen Studwell of APA's Science Policy Office conducted an advocacy workshop at the meeting to educate SSSS members about the legislative process and how they can get involved in advocacy to promote and protect behavioral research. Since July 2003, when Congress voted on an amendment to rescind funding for five peer-reviewed sexuality projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there has been a heightened awareness of the vulnerability of the scientific review process to outside influence. Most recently, an amendment passed the House in September 2004 that sought to cut off funding for two basic behavioral research grants that had already received full funding from NIH. Given the cyclical nature of congressional interest in these issues, it remains to be seen whether the coming year will bring further intrusions of politics into scientific decision-making. More information about SSSS [back to top] Open Season on NIH's Draft "Open Access" Policy SPIN readers have no doubt been following the story of NIH's release of a draft "open access" policy in September. That proposed policy would require scientific publishers to make available to NIH's PubMed Central database, without charge, any article that was based in whole or in part on NIH-funded research. Prompted by patient organizations who would like a free, one-stop shop to review all publications on NIH-funded research, and by NIH itself, to demonstrate accountability to Congress and the taxpayers, the new policy has prompted a deluge of criticism among publishers of scientific journals, including APA. Read the full article National Children's Study Announces Study Sites On Tuesday, November 16th, directors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the implementation phase of the National Children's Study (NCS). The release of the study plan and the requests for proposals (RFP) can be found on the NCS website. The study plan focuses on several priority health themes: outcomes of pregnancy, child growth and development, injury, asthma, and psychological and emotional health. Psychologists have been involved since the inception of the NCS in 2000, serving as advisors on the federal advisory committee and planning groups and will continue to play a role as the NCS gets underway. Read the formal announcement View the initial sites and the 96 study locations [back to top] Psychologists Provide New Insight in New London Psychological science was well represented at a homeland security leadership and workforce development conference held November 16-18 at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Headquarters in New London, CT. The conference, "Charting a Course for Homeland Security Strategic Studies", brought together diverse perspectives representing senior military service institutes, the intelligence community, academic researchers and educators, think tanks, international organizations, the private and corporate sector, and state and local governments. Read the full article Senator Brownback Holds Hearing on Pornography Addiction On November 18th, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) held a hearing on the science of pornography addiction. As the outgoing chairman of the science, technology, and space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, this will likely be one of his last opportunities to chair a hearing on this topic. Notably, he was the only Member of Congress in attendance. One of the four witnesses to testify at the hearing was psychologist Mary Anne Layden, Co-Director, Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program, Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Layden testified that pornography poses risks to those who use pornography, their families, and those who are in the business. In addition, sexual addicts are at risk for developing psychologically unhealthy, socially inappropriate and illegal behaviors. Senator Brownback was most interested in studies using fMRI that may show that viewing sexually explicit images permanently alters brain chemistry and causes changes in brain structure similar to heroin addiction. While there have been some studies using fMRI to determine the impact of viewing sexually explicit material on brain chemistry, Dr. Layden noted that it is quite difficult for scientists to get federal support for conducting the research that would answer those questions. View the complete witness list and testimony from the hearing [back to top] APA Science Policy Fellowship Applications Due January 3, 2005 Applications are due January 3, 2005 for APA's annual Science Policy Fellowship program. Each year, APA places a psychological scientist in an executive branch research funding/coordinating office. Past Fellows have worked at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and most recently, the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition to duties as a special assistant in a science mission agency or office, the Fellow attends an orientation program on congressional and executive branch operations and a year-long seminar series on issues involving science and public policy. For more information, see the Science Policy website and contact Dr. Heather Kelly in APA's Public Policy Office via email or phone at 202.336.5932. More information about the Science Policy Fellowship program Upcoming APA Advocacy Training in New Orleans Steve Breckler (APA's Executive Director for Science), Heather Kelly and Karen Studwell (Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officers in the Science Policy Office) will head to New Orleans for the 6th annual Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP - APA Division 8) conference on January 20-22, 2005. On Saturday morning from 8:00-10:00 am they will offer an "on the road" version of our popular Advocacy Training Workshop to anyone interested in more effectively advocating for psychological research within federal agencies and on Capitol Hill.  More information about the SPSP Conference [back to top] Any questions? If you have any questions regarding SPIN or specific science policy issues, please feel free to contact any of APA’s Science PPO staff. Geoff Mumford, Ph.D., Director of Science Policy Pat Kobor, Senior Science Policy Analyst Heather O'Beirne Kelly, Ph.D., Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer Karen Studwell, J.D., Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer Sara Robinson, Legislative Assistant

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