Front Matter

Introduction

Executive Summary

New Directions for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)

he National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a complex organization with 27 Institutes and Centers (ICs). As one of four programmatic offices within the NIH Office of the Director, the mission of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is to coordinate and stimulate behavioral and social science research across all NIH institutes and centers. Since OBSSR does not fund research directly, collaboration with the ICs is crucial. Although OBSSR is not in a position to control what individual IC directors may choose to fund or focus upon, behavioral and social science activity is common across the ICs, both in terms of basic research on behavioral and social mechanisms affecting health, and translational research on converting knowledge into practice.

Managing Multi-Institutional Projects

he realities of current scholarly and fiscal environments sometimes make multi-institutional projects preferable to single institution undertakings. It makes sense, after all, that complicated projects are best tackled by a diverse team of experts who bring the collective resources of their employing institutions to bear on the work of the joint project. I have been engaged in major multi-institutional projects throughout the past decade and have had the opportunity to observe characteristics of successful and of ultimately unsuccessful multi-institutional collaborations.

Human Dimensions: Integrating the Social and Behavioral Sciences with the Biophysical and Natural Sciences

Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Obesity: Linking Neuroscience to Health Behavior

Dilemmas and Opportunities Surrounding Participatory Research to Promote Health in Small Towns

mall Town Dilemmas: The 2010 census confirmed what most Kansans already knew about the state’s population surging in urban areas while declining in small towns and rural areas. At the writing of this article, a number of statesupported efforts are underway to recruit businesses to rural Kansas, to sustain resources and to retain young people. Specifically, Governor Sam Brownback’s “Rural Opportunity Zones” (ROZs) are designed to reverse dramatic population declines over the past decade in rural areas of Kansas through income tax exemptions and student loan forgiveness. Even if these steps are successful in the short-term, some experts consider them to be futile in long-term solutions to the “hollowing out the middle”.

Behavioral Sciences and Drug Discovery

any drugs discovered by our prehistoric ancestors are those affecting behavior. As this was not the result of an organized search for such agents, it reflects the fact that humans notice when consumption of a product alters their sensorium. In some cases the effect was perceived as beneficial, whereas in others it was dysphoric. Word of these discoveries was passed on for generations. Over the millennia, these products were employed for recreational or religious purposes, as poisons, for inducing sleep, or for enhancing endurance.

Developing a Top 25 Program in the Behavioral and Social Sciences

ore than ever, public research universities are constrained in how much they can invest in program development in the social and behavioral sciences, as well as many if not all other disciplines. Without such investment, however, there is an inexorable decline in facility quality, including their ability to stay at the forefront of their disciplines and their ability to compete for federal research funds. In the face of diminishing State support and federal research funding opportunities, the ability to maintain and enhance these departments will increasingly depend on creative and sometimes risky strategies.