The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils, an advisory body made up of 27 members primarily from NIH Institutes and Centers (IC) Advisory Councils met on January 25th and 26th. The Council reviews policies and activities pertaining to NIH’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) and advises the NIH Director on emerging scientific research, addressing new public health issues, and bridging gaps in knowledge through cross-agency collaboration. This FABBS article highlights several presentations and discussions of particular interest to behavioral and brain scientists: proposed DPCPSI reorganization, plan for the OBSSR Strategic Plan (2024-2028), and an update from new NIH Director, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli.
[See full agenda including webcast]
Jane M. Simoni, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) introduced herself, having joined NIH in July 2023, and shared her perspectives on the importance of OBSSR. Dr. Simoni explained that researching human behavior is integral to health and that any biomedical breakthroughs need to be informed by behavioral and social science (BSSR) research. Dr. Simoni reviewed current research priorities at OBSSR: behavior change, social connection and health, multi-level research, and integrating BSSR into biomedical research. She presented research goals in the proposed Strategic Plan for 2024 to 2028 including increasing workforce capacity, and operational changes including support for diversity and equity. OBBSR is also proposing edits to its mission statement, adding an emphasis on health equity to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds can access needed health interventions. This comprehensive presentation was received with great interest in and support for the behavioral and social sciences and followed by engaged discussion and thoughtful questions.
During her update, NIH Director, Dr. Bertagnolli, who started in November, introduced herself and new additions to her leadership team. She reviewed recent accomplishments explaining that NIH simplified guidelines for peer-reviewing NIH grants to help reviewers concentrate on scientific merit. Dr. Bertagnolli outlined priorities for the year ahead. NIH is currently considering modifying the mission statement to incorporate more inclusive language. Dr. Bertagnolli concluded by sharing some principles that will guide her work at the NIH so that research is efficient, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of people.
DPCSPI Deputy Director Robin I. Kawazoe, outlined a proposal to reorganize DPCPSI by moving three programs from the Immediate Office of the NIH Director to DPCPSI:
1. The “All of Us Research Program,” which collects data from diverse populations to support positive health outcomes.
2. The “Environmental Influences on Child Health (ECHO) Program,” that combines observational and intervention research to answer big questions about how environmental factors influence childhood health and decision-making.
3. The “INvestigation of Co-occuring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE (INCLUDE) Project” to facilitate more inclusive research practices to understand Down Syndrome.
These changes are subject to the approval of the HHS Secretary — leadership at DPCPSI is hopeful that this can be accomplished early this year.
