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	APA's Science Policy Insider News June, 2008
in this issue... U.S. House Votes to Boost Research and Development at NASA APA Helps Honor Leaders of Health Services Research NIMH Soon to Release Strategic Plan APA Members and Staff Honored at CPDD Advocating on Capitol Hill for Psychological Research at DoD National Children’s Study Responds to Recent NAS Review Abrams on NIH: “BSSR is a key player.” U.S. House Votes to Boost Research and Development at NASA Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend authorization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) one year. The bill (H.R. 6063) authorized $20.2 billion for the agency, a full $2.9 billion over the President’s FY 2009 budget request. The authorized level includes $853,400,000 for NASA’s Aeronautics program, home to aviation safety and human factors research. Shortly before the bill went to the House floor, APA Science Government Relations staff sent a letter to Representatives urging them to support the authorization bill. We also asked members of APA’s Public Policy Advocacy Network (PPAN) to support NASA by calling their Representative and urging him/her to vote yes on the bill. Many thanks to all of you who made calls! APA endorsed the House NASA authorization bill because it restores support for the agency’s long-underfunded research programs, including aviation safety and human performance research, much of which is done by psychological scientists at NASA and at NASA-funded institutions. The FY 2009 authorized funding level for Aeronautics, if signed into law, would amount to a 35 percent increase over the allocation for FY 2008. This represents an extraordinary commitment by Congress to restore support for aeronautics research. NASA’s FY 2008 allocation diminished the spending power of the aeronautics program by 40 percent compared to 2004, forcing NASA centers to cut jobs and university grants in aeronautics research, especially in the area of human performance and aviation safety. The Senate may vote on its version of the bill as soon as July. Science Government Relations’ Elizabeth Hoffman will continue to work with the authorizing and appropriations committees in both chambers of Congress to advance behavioral science at NASA. Stay tuned for more updates. [back to top] APA Helps Honor Leaders of Health Services Research On June 9, APA cosponsored a reception honoring champions of health services research at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. Among those honored were Congressman Tom Allen; Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson; Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dr. Carolyn Clancy; Director of the National Center for Health Statistics, Dr. Ed Sondik; two staff from the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Dr. Sudip Parikh and Lisa Bernhardt; and, two staff from the corresponding Subcommittee in the House, Nicole Kunko and Sue Quantius. Over 200 guests attended the event to help celebrate Congressional leadership of the first comprehensive comparative effectiveness research legislation introduced in the 110th Congress, the “Enhanced Health Care Value for All Act of 2007” (H.R. 2184). Click here to view pictures from the event. [back to top] NIMH Soon to Release Strategic Plan The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is scheduled to release the final version of its strategic plan shortly. You may recall that we put out a call for public input on a draft version of the plan back in December. We heard from a wide range of individual APA members and were able to share these comments with NIMH Director, Dr. Tom Insel. A common theme that emerged was the inadequate coverage of behavioral research among the Plan’s stated objectives. In our cover letter to Dr. Insel in December, we urged the Institute not to exclude basic behavioral research in the final version of the Plan, just as it does not exclude studies of normal brain function that are conducted solely at the neural level. We have recently been heartened by Insel’s stated commitment to behavioral research. For example, at a recent meeting of the NIMH Professional Coalition for Research Progress, Insel promoted the importance of discoveries in the brain and behavioral sciences for treating and preventing mental disorders. His discussion of the interplay among genes, circuits, and behavior was enlightening, and we are hopeful that he shares our goal of ensuring that basic behavioral science is supported, funded and lauded. We are also hopeful that the final version of the strategic plan will reflect this commitment. Click here to read a letter that APA’s Executive Director for Science, Dr. Steve Breckler, sent to Insel regarding his commitment to basic behavioral research. Please contact Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman with questions or comments. Stay tuned for more NIMH news. [back to top] APA Members and Staff Honored at CPDD On June 15, APA member Dr. Hendree Jones received the Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award at the plenary session of the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The award is given annually to recognize outstanding research by an investigator below the age of 40 in memory of Dr. Joseph Cochin, a highly esteemed leader in drug abuse research and a former Chairman and Executive Secretary of CPDD. Dr. Jones is Research Director at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During the same session, Dr. Geoff Mumford, Assistant Executive Director for Government Relations in the Science Directorate, received CPDD’s Distinguished Service Award. In presenting the award, CPDD Board member Dr. Bill Dewey cited Geoff’s development and organization of an educational briefing series on behalf of the Friends of NIDA coalition and his long term effort to help restore an external panel of drug abuse expertise within the advisory committee structure of the Food and Drug Administration. [back to top] Advocating on Capitol Hill for Psychological Research at DoD On June 4, Debbie Boehm-Davis, PhD, testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense on behalf of APA. Chair of the Psychology Department at George Mason University and a Fellow of APA’s Division 21, Dr. Boehm-Davis is a human factors psychologist with expertise in human-computer interaction and transportation. For the past several years she also has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Boehm-Davis testified regarding Fiscal Year 2009 funding for Science and Technology (S&T) at the Department of Defense (DoD), and on behalf of support for psychological research in particular. Her oral testimony highlighted the need for Congress to again reverse proposed Administration cuts to the overall S&T account and to protect behavioral science research programs throughout the agency. Though the President’s budget included increases for basic research, it would substantially cut applied research programs that bring this research into applications for military use. Strengthening APA’s ongoing advocacy for increasing DoD’s human-centered research programs are the findings of a newly released 2008 report from the National Academies on Human Behavior in Military Contexts. The report recommends enhancing funding for research in six areas of behavioral research that traditionally have been supported by the military research laboratories (the Army Research Institute, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Research Laboratory): intercultural competence; teams in complex environments; technology-based training; nonverbal behavior; emotion; and behavioral neurophysiology. Dr. Boehm-Davis concluded her testimony by noting another APA concern – the potential loss of invaluable behavioral science programs within DoD’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) as it reorganizes and loses personnel strength. APA’s testimony urged Congress to provide ongoing funding in the next fiscal year for CIFA’s behavioral research programs on cyber security, insider threat, and other counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operational challenges.  For more information on APA’s DoD research advocacy, contact Science GRO’s Heather Kelly, PhD. Click here to view pictures from the hearing. [back to top] National Children’s Study Responds to Recent NAS Review During the June 13 meeting of the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council, Director Duane Alexander provided an update on the planning for the National Children’s Study (NCS). In May, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released their review of the NCS research plan, which supported the overall goals of the study, but also included a number of recommendations. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested a response from the NCS Program Office and that response was sent to OMB on June 14. By addressing many of the recommendations point by point, the NCS Response to the NAS Review provides further explanation for many of the compromises made in developing the study. For example, in response to the NAS panel’s recommendation of more frequent visits to better assess child development, the NCS Program Office stated that, “increasing the number of contacts over this period to enable more frequent assessment of infant development would be ideal from a scientific standpoint…however, within the broader, long-term context of the NCS, the proposed increased assessment may not be practical considering the additional burden on both the Study and the participants and cannot be supported by current budget projections.” The report further suggests that these concerns could be addressed by funding proposed adjunct studies of 20 percent of the NCS population that would incorporate additional in-person assessments of cognitive and language development between 12 and 36 months of age. [back to top] Abrams on NIH: “BSSR is a key player.” David Abrams, PhD, former Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) reflects on his three years in the position. Read on to learn his view of how the behavioral and social sciences are doing at NIH and why this office is so important for population health and the mission of NIH. You saw part of the interview in the June edition of Psychological Science Agenda: the complete interview follows. SPIN: To what extent was your job as Director of OBSSR different than what you initially supposed? Abrams: The position is more intellectually stimulating, has potentially more influence on overarching NIH-wide priorities, and is also more challenging than I had anticipated. The extraordinary intellectual climate and commitment to strong science is a basis for strategic influence. The climate demands demonstrating excellence through strong science, rather than simply asserting the value of BSSR. Being exposed to the latest cutting edge research and participating in deliberations with scientific luminaries across the entire biomedical, behavioral, social and population sciences spectrum was stimulating. Strong science is the currency at NIH. The potential for influencing NIH-wide priorities is greater than I had expected. But you must be well prepared, patient and persistent to justify your core thesis against the best and brightest and against many other equally deserving ideas. OBSSR has a place at the table to make the case. NIH Director Dr. Zerhouni’s crosscutting transdisciplinary and translational roadmap initiatives provide a new vehicle to make that case (now embodied in the Common Fund and the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Planning - OPASI). The case can also be made through OBSSR’s congressional mandate and convening power. One can bring together two or more of the 27 Institutes or Centers (IC’s) who may share interests. One can approach an individual IC Director. The other hidden gold I discovered at NIH is those special staff and leaders of the BSSR programs within IC’s who champion BSSR with extraordinary zeal. These are unsung heroes. Dedicated “heavy lifters” who relentlessly strive to support BSSR for the research community and the nation. Click here to view the entire story. [back to top] About SPIN APA's Science Government Relations Office (GRO) wants you to know about the important policy issues that involve psychological science at the national level. The Science GRO staff advocate for psychological science not only with members of Congress, but also with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Education, Justice, and with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Science Foundation. To keep you up-to-date regarding science policy within these agencies and on Capitol Hill, Science GRO staff write various articles and publish them monthly in an electronic newsletter called Science Policy Insider News (SPIN). [Subscribe to SPIN] Questions? If you have any questions regarding SPIN or specific science policy issues, please feel free to contact any of APA's Science GRO staff. Geoff Mumford, PhD Assistant Executive Director for Science Policy email Pat Kobor Senior Science Policy Analyst email Heather O'Beirne Kelly, PhD Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer email Karen Studwell, JD Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer email Elizabeth Hoffman, PhD Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer email Anne Bettesworth Science Policy Associate email Kirk Waldroff Science Website Manager email Tammy Barnes Administrative Coordinator email

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