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University Scientist Delivers APA's Congressional Testimony on Funding for
DoD Behavioral Research
Jennifer Vendemia, PhD, a psychologist from the University
of South Carolina, presented APA's testimony before the Senate
Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on May 17th. Vendemia's fMRI research
focuses on modeling the neurocognitive processes of lying in order to
formulate new deception detection techniques using measures of specific
brain activity. She advocated for restoring cuts to behavioral research
programs in the Department of Defense (DoD) laboratories and for
increasing DoD's support of smaller, human-centered research programs
related to counterintelligence and special operations.
Vendemia and Science Policy staffer Heather Kelly also met
with Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) defense aide regarding research language
in the FY06 DoD authorization bill and a possible visit from the Senator
to psychological research labs at USC and nearby Ft. Jackson Army
Base.
 Read
Dr. Vendemia's testimony [PDF 50K]
90th Meeting of the NIDA Advisory
Council
On May 17th, Geoff Mumford, Director of Science Policy,
attended the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Advisory Council. In
addition to the Directors
report, which included an appreciative mention of the March Friends of
NIDA briefing that Geoff and Sara Robinson coordinated, the Council
received reports from two APA Fellows. Jose Szapocznik delivered a Report
of the Minority Health Disparities Work Group and Dorothy Hatsukami
discussed the findings of the Bioethics
Taskforce Report.
Geoff and Sara are also coordinating the next Friends
of NIDA briefing [PDF 20K] scheduled for June 28th, which will focus on NIDA's
methamphetamine research portfolio. Alongside Nora Volkow, APA member
Richard Rawson will be presenting results from his MATRIX methamphetamine
treatment studies at the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program.
Any SPIN readers who happen to be in town are cordially
invited to attend.
Read
the Dear Colleague invitation from the Chairs of the Congressional Caucus
to Fight and Control Methamphetamine and the Addiction, Treatment and Recovery
Caucus [PDF 260K]
[back to top]
Congress Makes Date with Democracy
The week of May 23rd began with an extraordinary event
sponsored by the Decade of Behavior. APA Science Policy staffer Pat Kobor
worked with the National Communication Association, Association of
American Geographers, and American Political Science Association to
showcase the 2005 Decade of Behavior Research Award winners in the study
of democracy, one of the five themes of the Decade. The event was called
“The State of Democracy: Engaging a Changing Citizenry. “ Over 70
congressional staff and policymakers attended the symposium, including
staff from the Department of Homeland Security, State Department and
Library of Congress among others. APA fellow Judith Torney-Purta, PhD, of
the University of Maryland, was honored for her work on the beliefs and
attitudes of young people in the United States and abroad on democracy and
civic involvement. Pointing out that young people in the U.S. received
only mediocre scores on understanding the concepts and ideals of
democracy, Dr. Torney-Purta called for more participatory experiences as
part of the civic education of young people. Other scientists who gave
award addresses were political scientists James Gibson, PhD, Washington
University-St. Louis; David Epstein PhD, and Sharyn O’Halloran, PhD,
Columbia University; geographer William A.V. Clark, PhD, University of
California-Los Angeles; and communication scholar Kathleen Hall Jamieson,
PhD, University of Pennsylvania.
Read
the full article
House and Senate Science Leaders Seek to Increase Role of
Women in Science
On May 25th, APA cosponsored a congressional briefing,
"Advancing Women in Science," with a number of organizations in
coordination with the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues and the
Congressional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education
Caucus. Given the recent controversy over remarks by Harvard President
Larry Summers, Members of Congress and the scientific communities are also
seeking answers to why women are underrepresented in many fields of
science and engineering. Psychologist Nora Newcombe, PhD, Temple
University, provided a brief summary of the current state of cognitive
science research on gender differences in learning, and brought the role
of culture and the social environment front and center to the debate.
Read
the full article [back to top]
APA Sponsors Congressional Briefing on Military and
Mental Health Needs On May 26th, APA held a
standing-room-only Congressional briefing on "Psychology in Service
to America's Military Personnel, Veterans and Their Families,"
co-sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Three
distinguished psychologist speakers highlighted important roles played by
psychology within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), focusing on training, research and clinical care.
Antonette Zeiss, PhD (Director of Training, Psychology Service, VA Palo
Alto Healthcare System) discussed cutting-edge models of VA internship
training designed to meet the needs of returning military personnel;
Terence Keane, PhD (Associate Chief of Staff for Research &
Development, VA Boston Healthcare System) presented the most up-to-date
research in the areas of assessing and treating Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder; and Harold Wain, PhD (Chief, Psychiatry Consultation Liaison
Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center) outlined his team's clinical
work with hospitalized, traumatically injured soldiers returning from
Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom deployments. Read
the full article
109th Meeting of the NIAAA Advisory
Council
On May 26th, Geoff Mumford, Director of Science Policy,
attended the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Advisory Council. Director Li has initiated a series of portfolio reviews
via an extramural advisory board (EAB) on which APA Fellow (and NIAAA
Council member) Ken Sher serves. At this meeting the EAB presented two
reviews: gene and environment interactions, and medications development.
The EAB concluded that there was still too much to learn
about how genetics
and environment [PDF 200K] separately contribute to the etiology of risk for
alcohol use disorders to start large scale studies of their interactive
contributions. However they did make a number of suggestions as to how
NIAAA could adjust the existing portfolio to prepare for the future when
such interactive studies might become appropriate. Dr. Raye Litten provided a summary of NIAAA's robust medication
development program
[PDF 200K] which was followed by the EAB
portfolio review
[PDF 650K].
Council also received a report from Dr. Mark Willenbring
on the development of the new Clinical Treatment Guidelines to be released
later this summer. When NIAAA Director Li brought Dr. Willenbring on board
as the new Director of the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research,
they decided that revising the screening guide for clinicians should be a
top priority. The resulting 2005 edition “Helping Patients Who Drink Too
Much: A Clinicians Guide” was designed to broaden the target audience
and provide a simpler screening method.
The last edition of the guidelines, released in 2003,
focused on primary care practitioners, but Dr. Willenbring, a psychiatrist
by training, brought a “many hands make light work” philosophy with
him to NIAAA and realized that expanding the clinician base to include
mental health providers would be essential. Why? Because substance use
disorders, primarily alcohol use disorders, are much more prevalent in
patients with other mental health problems than in the general population,
and many mental health patients do not regularly see primary care
providers.
In addition to offering a step-by-step approach to
providing brief interventions for non-dependent drinkers, the new
guidelines also provide advice on how to deal with an alcohol dependent
patient who refuses or fails to follow up with a referral, or who fails to
respond to a behavioral treatment program. For the first time, medications
for treating alcohol dependence are covered as well. Future products
related to the new Clinicians Guide will include patient education
materials and continuing education for professionals who take an on-line
instruction planned for NIAAA’s website.
Geoff Mumford will be working with NIAAA and APA’s
Professional Development Staff to disseminate the new guidelines. “The
field of psychology has provided important leadership in researching and
treating substance use disorders, and APA is in an ideal position to help
us get these new guidelines into the hands of those who can really use
them,” said Willenbring.
[back to top]
APA Co-sponsors Congressional Briefing Featuring
Social Network Analysis
Building on the work of social psychologist Stanley
Milgram, a diverse group of scientists are now utilizing social network
analysis to improve outcomes in fields from national security to public
health. Under the leadership of the Coalition to Protect Research,
co-chaired by APA's Karen Studwell, APA joined the Consortium of Social
Science Associations, the American Sociological Association and other
scientific organizations to sponsor a congressional briefing entitled, Six
Degrees of Separation: Using Social Network Research to Inform Public
Health and National Security to educate congressional staff and
policymakers about the need for this research. Featured speakers included:
Brian Reed, Fellow, Center for Research on Military Organization at the
Department of Sociology, University of Maryland College Park, Duncan
Watts, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, Columbia University,
Katherine Stovel, PhD, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of
Washington. Each of the speakers represented a unique perspective on how
social network analysis is informing policy decisions and the importance
of continued federal support for this research, even in times of budget
constraints.
Social network analysis has become particularly useful in
the public health battle against sexually transmitted diseases such as
HIV/AIDS. Dr. Stovell presented data from the Add Health Study, which was
funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is
helping to inform scientists what types of interventions might be most
successful at breaking some of the chains involved in disease
transmission.
View
Dr. Stovel's presentation [PPT 1 MB]
View
Dr. Watts' presentation
[PPT
370K]
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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