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The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) has long had the mission to improve social and living conditions in the United States. It pursues this goal by supporting outstanding research in the social sciences that explores how social, economic, and political factors affect the lives of Americans and their children. Support of such research remains the Foundation's core focus. RSF also has a long history of encouraging new scientific advances to strengthen the methods, data, and theoretical core of the social sciences. Two recent intellectual developments have prompted RSF to launch a special research initiative that integrates knowledge from the biological and social sciences. First, there has been a paradigm shift in the life sciences, spurred by the realization that many biological processes, rather than being fixed, immutable mechanisms that consign people to particular life outcomes, are instead fluid, dynamic responses to features of the social and physical environments humans inhabit. Second, this shift led researchers to launch interdisciplinary studies that seek to integrate approaches from the social and biological sciences, recognizing the potential for a deeper understanding of how social inequalities are initiated, maintained, and transmitted from one generation to the next.

The Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Science Research (IBSS) competition promotes the conduct of interdisciplinary research by teams of investigators in the social and behavioral sciences. Emphasis is placed on support for research that involves researchers from multiple SBE disciplinary fields and that integrates scientific theoretical approaches and methodologies from multiple SBE disciplinary fields. Emphasis also is placed on the significance of expected intellectual contributions that are likely to yield generalizable insights and information that will enhance theoretical perspectives and advance basic knowledge and capabilities across multiple SBE disciplinary fields. Although the IBSS competition will consider any proposal that addresses a topic for which the proposal makes a compelling case that the research will enhance broader theoretical understanding across multiple social and behavioral science fields, social and behavioral science researchers are especially encouraged to submit proposals for research on one of the following three broadly defined topics: Population Change; Sources and Consequences of Disparities; and Technology, New Media, and Social Networks.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to stimulate clinical research that applies a social genomics approach to chronic wound risk, presence, progression, and healing. The field of social genomics focuses on how the social environment influences gene expression, and how this gene expression may in turn impact health outcomes. Chronic wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers, venous or arterial ulcers) are multidimensional and, as such, there is benefit to a holistic approach that goes beyond a focus on the wound (i.e., repairing the skin and underlying tissue) to include an approach that focuses on the person with the wound. A better understanding of social environmental factors (positive and negative) and associated molecular mechanisms is needed to advance therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing chronic wound risk in addition to improving healing outcomes and quality of life.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages exploratory and developmental grant applications to lay the foundation for innovative and collaborative basic research on the role of epigenetics in social, behavioral, environmental and biological relationships, throughout the life-span and across generations. Research plans that are responsive to this FOA will use existing bio-psycho-social and environmental data from human cohorts or animal studies that have biospecimens available for epigenetic profiling. The one year exploratory/developmental awards are expected to generate preliminary data for comprehensive basic research applications to study interactions between epigenetics and social/behavioral/biological/environmental factors in both normal function and pathophysiology throughout life and across generations. The results may ultimately inform research to develop clinical decision/diagnostic tools and prevention/treatment strategies.   

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at the National Institutes of Health, encourages Research Project Grant (R01) applications from institutions/organizations that propose to develop basic and applied projects utilizing systems science methodologies relevant to human behavioral and social sciences and health. This FOA is intended to encourage a broader scope of topics to be addressed with systems science methodologies, beyond those encouraged by existing open FOAs. Research projects applicable to this FOA are those that are either applied or basic in nature (including methodological development), have a human behavioral and/or social science focus, and feature systems science methodologies

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications for basic research to better characterize the affective, cognitive, social, and motivational parameters of impaired and intact decision making in both normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research is sought that will characterize the extent to which basic behavioral and neural processes involved in decision-making are differentially impacted in normal aging and AD, investigate the influence of social factors on decision-making, and investigate the decision-making factors that render older adults (with or without cognitive impairment) vulnerable to financial exploitation and other forms of mistreatment and abuse. The FOA also invites applications to apply basic research on the processes involved in decision-making to the design of decision-supportive interventions for midlife and older adults with and without AD. Specific opportunities include the development of decision-supportive interventions to leverage cognitive, emotional and motivational strengths of these populations; tools to assess decisional capacity; strategies for simplifying choices and offering better defaults; and the promotion of timely adoption of optimal delegation practices (e.g., power of attorney, living wells, etc.).

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications for basic research to better characterize the affective, cognitive, social, and motivational parameters of impaired and intact decision making in both normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research is sought that will characterize the extent to which basic behavioral and neural processes involved in decision-making are differentially impacted in normal aging and AD, investigate the influence of social factors on decision-making, and investigate the decision-making factors that render older adults (with or without cognitive impairment) vulnerable to financial exploitation and other forms of mistreatment and abuse. The FOA also invites applications to apply basic research on the processes involved in decision-making to the design of decision-supportive interventions for midlife and older adults with and without AD. Specific opportunities include the development of decision-supportive interventions to leverage cognitive, emotional and motivational strengths of these populations; tools to assess decisional capacity; strategies for simplifying choices and offering better defaults; and the promotion of timely adoption of optimal delegation practices (e.g., power of attorney, living wells, etc.).

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

MOD invites all qualified scientists with faculty appointments or the equivalent, at universities, hospitals and research institutions (not for profit or profit), to submit applications for research grants relevant to our mission. This encompasses basic biological processes governing differentiation and development, genetics and genomics of these processes, clinical studies, reproductive health and environmental toxicology, and social and behavioral studies concerning cognitive and behavioral risks that affect outcomes of pregnancy, the perinatal period, and subsequent child development. Applications will be directed to one of three committees whose respective foci are:    * Cell Lineage and Differentiation  * Gene Discovery and Translational Medicine  * Social and Behavioral Sciences. This involves family units and includes genes, toxicants, social  determinants that adversely affect language or behavior, especially if involving premature  infants or children with birth defects.

This encompasses basic biological processes governing differentiation and development involving both human and animal model systems, genetics and genomics of these processes, clinical studies, reproductive health and environmental toxicology. Social and behavioral studies are encouraged concerning cognitive and behavioral risks that affect outcomes of pregnancy, the perinatal period, and subsequent child development. The latter may involve family units and those genes, toxicants and social determinants that adversely affect language or behavior.

This encompasses basic biological processes governing differentiation and development involving both human and animal model systems, genetics and genomics of these processes, clinical studies, reproductive health and environmental toxicology. Social and behavioral studies are encouraged concerning cognitive and behavioral risks that affect outcomes of pregnancy, the perinatal period, and subsequent child development. The latter may involve family units and those genes, toxicants and social determinants that adversely affect language or behavior.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are interested in proposals that will propel our understanding of the biomedical research enterprise by drawing from the scientific expertise of the science of science policy research community. NSF promotes the progress of science by maintaining the general health of research and education across all fields of science and engineering. The Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate within the NSF supports basic research on people and society. The SBE sciences focus on human behavior and social organizations and how social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental forces affect the lives of people from birth to old age and how people in turn shape those forces. SBE's Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program supports research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications that seek to apply one or more innovative methodologies in communication research across the cancer control continuum, from prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, to end of life. Applications to this FOA should utilize one or more of the following analytic approaches, methods, and data sources, including but not limited to social media data mining, Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, online social network analysis, crowdsourcing research tools (e.g., mTurk), online search data, Ecological Momentary Assessment, neuroscience and biobehavioral approaches to communication, and geographic information systems. Studies should assess outcomes related to cancer prevention and control (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceived risk, decision making in screening and treatment, information inequalities, social support, shared decision making, persuasion, caregiving, behavioral intentions, preventive behaviors, and policy support, among others). This FOA utilizes the Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) mechanism, which supports investigation of novel scientific ideas or new model systems, tools, or technologies that have the potential for significant impact on biomedical or biobehavioral research.

This funding opportunity supports projects that test whether modifying electrophysiological patterns during behavior can improve cognitive, affective, or social processing. Applications must use experimental designs that incorporate active manipulations to address at least one, and ideally more, of the following topics: (1) in animals or humans, determine which parameters of neural coordination, when manipulated in isolation, improve particular aspects of cognitive, affective, or social processing; (2) in animals or humans, determine how particular abnormalities at the genomic, molecular, or cellular levels affect the systems-level coordination of electrophysiological patterns during behavior; (3) determine whether in vivo, systems-level electrophysiological changes in behaving animals predict analogous electrophysiological and cognitive improvements in healthy persons or clinical populations; and (4) use biologically-realistic computational models that include systems-level aspects to understand the function and mechanisms by which oscillatory and other electrophysiological patterns unfold across the brain to impact cognitive, affective, or social processing.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications for short-term mentored career development (K18) awards that improve synergies among researchers in basic and applied behavioral-social sciences, human subjects and model animals settings; and biomedical and behavioral-social sciences. Link to Additional Information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-17-486.html

Founded in 1972, the Tourette Association of America (formerly known as the Tourette Syndrome Association) has emerged as the premier national nonprofit organization working to make life better for all people affected by Tourette and tic disorders. The association advances its work by raising public awareness and fostering social acceptance; working to advance scientific understanding, treatment options, and care; educating professionals to better serve the needs of children, adults, and families challenged by Tourette and tic disorders; advocating for public policies and services that promote positive school, work, and social environments; providing help, hope, and a supportive community across the nation; and empowering its community to deal with the complexities of this spectrum of disorders. To that end, grants of up to $150,000 over two years will be awarded for basic and clinical studies on all aspects of Tourette syndrome. To be eligible, investigators are required to have an advanced degree such as a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent or be allied professionals with advanced degrees such as R.N.s, Drs. of O.T., social workers, and related fields. Investigators from nonprofit and for-profit organizations can apply.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows program is designed to provide a comprehensive fellowship experience at the nexus of health science, policy, and politics in Washington, D.C. The program provides an opportunity for exceptional mid-career health professionals and behavioral and social scientists with an interest in health and healthcare policy. Fellows participate in the policy process at the federal level and use that leadership experience to improve health, health care, and health policy. Exceptional candidates from academic faculties and nonprofit healthcare organizations are encouraged to apply. Applicants may have backgrounds in the disciplines of allied health professions, biomedical sciences, dentistry, economics or other social sciences, health services organization and administration, medicine, nursing, public health, social and behavioral health, or health law. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Up to six grants of a maximum of $165,000 will be made in 2018. Each fellow will receive up to $104,000 for their stay in Washington (September 1, 2018, through August 31, 2019) in salary, plus fringe benefits or a fellowship stipend.

The Communities Building Healthier Environments for a Stronger Nation Initiative ('Communities Initiative') intends to demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based networks in improving health outcomes among racial and ethnic minority and/or other disadvantaged populations. This program seeks to improve health outcomes through the establishment of integrated networks that collaboratively employ evidence-based disease management and preventive health activities; build the capacity of communities to address social determinants and barriers to healthcare access; and increase access to and utilization of preventive health care, medical treatment, and supportive services. The Communities Initiative specifically targets the unmet healthcare and supportive service needs of racial and ethnic minority populations at highest risk for poorer health outcomes. Health services provided under the Communities Initiative will not be denied to any person based on race, color, or national origin. Populations at highest risk include, but are not limited to, individuals who are newly diagnosed and lack a medical home; individuals who experience difficulty in adhering to a prescribed medical treatment plan; individuals with a chronic disease that is not well managed; and individuals that are unstably housed. Specific health areas to be addressed by the Communities Initiative include asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B or C, obesity/overweight, and mental disorders. Community health programs are required to address social determinants of health, and improve coordination of health, social, and supportive services to significantly improve health outcomes among minority and/or disadvantaged communities. Applicants must choose two but no more than three chronic conditions

The objective of the Social Behavioral Research Grant is to provide seed monies to junior investigators working on various disciplines of social science examining risk factors affecting lung health including: Psychosocial research Behavioral research Health services and health policy research Epidemiology / Biostatics research Public Health Education research

This FOA encourages applications that develop, strengthen, and evaluate transdisciplinary approaches, methods, and investigative teams in basic behavioral, social, and/or biobehavioral research to generate fundamental knowledge of the reciprocal linkages between sleep and stress. Stress can result in sleep disruption due to both psychological as well as physiological changes. Sleep disruption can result in physiological changes; however, individuals may not recognize or identify impairment due to sleep disruption. This initiative supports the development of research teams to understand how basic individual, social, biological, and environmental factors interact in a dynamic relationship between sleep patterns and psychosocial stress to influence health, wellness, disease, and/or treatment adherence.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications for short-term mentored career development (K18) awards that improve synergies among researchers in basic and applied behavioral-social sciences, human subjects and model animals settings; and biomedical and behavioral-social sciences. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, or a clinical trial feasibility study, as part of their research and career development. Applicants not planning an independent clinical trial, or proposing to gain research experience in a clinical trial led by another investigator, must apply to companion FOA, PAR-18-349.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites research projects that seek to explain the underlying mechanisms, processes, and trajectories of social relationships and how these factors affect outcomes in human health, illness, recovery, and overall wellbeing. Types of projects submitted under this FOA include studies that prospectively assign human participants to conditions (i.e., experimentally manipulate independent variables) and that assess biomedical and/or behavioral outcomes in humans to understand fundamental aspects of phenomena related to social connectedness and isolatedness. NIH considers such studies as "prospective basic science studies involving human participants" that meet the NIH definition of basic research and fall within the NIH definition of a clinical trials (see, e.g., NOT-OD-19-024) Types of studies that should submit under this FOA include studies that prospectively assign human participants to conditions (i.e., experimentally manipulate independent variables) and that assess biomedical or behavioral outcomes in humans for the purpose of understanding the fundamental aspects of phenomena without specific application towards processes or products in mind.