|
in this issue...
 NIH Pioneer Award Symposium Highlights Psychology
APA Sponsors Congressional Briefing on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Dr. Li Retires as Director of NIAAA
APA Makes Final Push to Increase Funding for VA Research in FY09
Science Committee Hears Testimony from Psychologists Barrett and Jemmott
NIH Pioneer Award Symposium Highlights Psychology
On September 22-23, the National Institutes of Health hosted a symposium of previous NIH Pioneer Award recipients and included a presentation from 2007 Pioneer award winner Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, professor of psychology and director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Boston College, who presented her innovative research on understanding emotion. The Pioneer awards were created to stimulate innovative and high impact work, and the research projects funded "must reflect ideas substantially different from those already being pursued in the investigator's laboratory or elsewhere." Dr. Barrett's project proposes a new model of understanding emotion as a conceptual act that results from the interplay of one's core affect, or internal bodily state, and one's conceptual system of understanding of emotion rather than a distinct reaction to an event. Her work challenges the prevailing wisdom that emotions are a distinct event with a dedicated evolutionary place in the brain and could have implications for the understanding of many mental and physiological disorders that are impacted by emotional reactions or perceptions.
[back to top]
APA Sponsors Congressional Briefing on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
On September 17, APA sponsored an educational briefing on Capitol Hill, "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Research Priorities and Frontiers in Civilian and Military Populations," to highlight progress and opportunities within psychological science that contribute to our understanding of PTSD. Reps. Lois Capps and Mike Castle, Co-Chairs of the Biomedical Research Caucus, cosponsored the event. The briefing educated Congressional staff and members of the health advocacy community about scientific progress and pressing needs regarding PTSD, including its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Two APA members, Drs. Barbara Rothbaum from Emory University Medical Center and Bonnie Green from Georgetown University Medical Center presented their cutting edge research on trauma in military and civilian populations. Following welcoming remarks by APA's Executive Director for Science, Dr. Steve Breckler, NIMH Director, Dr. Tom Insel, introduced the speakers and moderated the briefing. In doing so, he emphasized the great work that psychological scientists do to enhance the public's understanding of PTSD and provide effective interventions. NIMH has invested substantial resources in research to better understand and treat trauma. Click here to go to the NIMH trauma program.
Both speakers highlighted the importance of investing public health dollars in NIMH to meet the needs of a growing population of individuals suffering from PTSD. Rothbaum discussed exploratory gene x environment research that may be useful for predicting who is at risk for developing PTSD. She also presented a virtual reality program used to treat returning veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Green's presentation focused on treating trauma and PTSD in the uninsured and suggested opportunities for making mental health care more accessible to trauma survivors in primary care settings.
The discussion generated by attendees at the end of the briefing reflected a thoughtful understanding both of the science and its policy applications. Questions concerned the possibility of creating a behavioral "vaccine" against developing PTSD; using PTSD to leverage mental health integration into primary care settings; and delineating PTSD risks in vets versus active duty soldiers.
Although APA is disappointed that the NIMH Strategic Plan does not address the importance of basic behavioral research in its own right, we were pleased to collaborate with the Institute on this briefing and look forward to continued cooperation on issues of common concern.
Click here to view pictures from the briefing.
[back to top]
Dr. Li Retires as Director of NIAAA
On September 18, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) held its Fall Advisory Council meeting, and a surprise guest arrived with an announcement. Dr. Raynard Kington, Deputy Director of NIH, appeared on behalf of Dr. Elias Zerhouni to announce that after six years as NIAAA Director, Dr. Ting Kai Li was retiring. (Dr. Zerhouni was unable to make the announcement himself having been called upon by President Nicolas Sarkozy to participate in a review of the French equivalent to NIH.) Dr. Li has been a stalwart friend to the behavioral and social science community while at NIAAA and demonstrated his commitment to psychological research early on with the appointment of APA Fellow Dr. Mark Goldman as Associate Director of the institute during his first year. During Dr. Li's tenure, many important programmatic initiatives were launched and led by NIAAA staff psychologists, including research on college binge drinking, prevention and underage drinking, and revised treatment approaches. The latter will be the focus of the second Friends of NIAAA educational briefing on Capitol Hill next month, entitled "Alcoholism Isn't What It Used to Be: New Findings Foreshadow Shifts in Treatment Strategies."
Furthering this type of outreach was among the topics of a Council presentation by APA Fellow Dr. Peter Monti, who provided a review of NIAAA's efforts to promote health communications. The presentation was one in a series of Extramural Advisory Board reviews of the institute's programs which have served as a model of evaluation and transparency for constituents wanting to know more about NIAAA investments.
Dr. Li will be sorely missed by the NIH community, by the Friends of NIAAA, and by his many fans both here at APA HQ and within the broader APA research community.
[back to top]
APA Makes Final Push to Increase Funding for VA Research in FY09
As we write September SPIN items, none of the individual federal appropriations bills funding the government for the coming year have passed Congress, despite the Fiscal Year 2009 start on October 1 and Congress' imminent recess to return home for election year campaigning. A stop-gap funding bill, known as a Continuing Resolution, has passed both the House and Senate and is on its way to the President for signature into law. The Continuing Resolution will provide current levels of funding through March for most agencies, with a few notable exceptions.
Within this Continuing Resolution bill, the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will receive their full Fiscal Year 2009 funding rather than just temporary support at 2008 levels. APA's Science GRO has taken advantage of Congress' determination to increase funding for these particular agencies by working with the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research (FOVA) coalition to make a final push for increasing the VA research account in the Continuing Resolution. Letters were sent to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to "conference" their earlier VA research appropriations levels and provide $555 million to both meet ongoing research commitments and fund additional innovative grant proposals from VA scientists. Congress provided $510 million for VA research in the Continuing Resolution, short of our coalition request but substantially higher than the President's initial request of $442 million.
[back to top]
Science Committee Hears Testimony from Psychologists Barrett and Jemmott
Two psychological scientists testified before the House Science Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on September 18, 2008, at an unusual hearing that was focused on contributions of the behavioral and social sciences to public health. This was the third in a series of hearings called by Subcommittee Chair U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) to showcase the progress and promise of behavioral and social sciences research to key policy issues. (The first two hearings focused on contributions of the social sciences to national security and to energy policy.) Chairman Baird, a psychologist, said in his opening statement that he wanted to examine the role that social, behavioral and economic sciences play in improving health and well-being and reducing the economic burden of health care costs.
Psychologists Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, of Boston College and Massachusetts General Hospital, and John Jemmott, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, presented statements about their own research and fielded questions from committee members. The testimony and other information from the hearing are available here.
Dr. Barrett runs an interdisciplinary lab that focuses on the basic nature of emotion. Her research grew from the observation that some people seem able to differentiate and articulate their emotions while others cannot. Her research has demonstrated significant advantages in health and resiliency for those who are better able to recognize and differentiate their emotions. Her basic findings have been applied in the development of emotional literacy programs for children. She stressed that emotionally literate children are not only happier; research shows they have fewer clinical symptoms, display more leadership skills, and have higher test scores. Dr. Barrett's work has been funded primarily by the National Science Foundation and National Institute on Aging. She is a 2008 recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award for innovative research.
Dr. Jemmott discussed his research on prevention of HIV transmission and Sexually Transmitted Diseases among youth in the U.S. and in Africa. His research has led to the development of several interventions for specific populations, including "Be Proud, Be Responsible," "Making a Difference: An Abstinence-based Approach," and "Sisters Saving Sisters," an intervention for Latina and African American girls. He emphasized that a number of interventions have been tested in smaller populations and need to be scaled up to randomized controlled trials. He said that the federal government should invest more heavily in research on dissemination to ensure that helpful interventions are tested and modified to reach broader segments of the public. Dr. Jemmott's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other scientists who testified at the hearing were Donald Kenkel, PhD, economist from Cornell University, and Harold Koenig, MD, of Duke University.
Ranking Minority Member on the Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI), a physicist by training, said that series of hearings had opened his eyes to the power and utility of the social sciences and that he thought Chairman Baird had "done a service" to the Subcommittee. Subcommittee members who attended the hearing in addition to Baird and Ehlers included Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
Click here to view pictures from the hearing.
[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
|
