CSDE Affiliates Ali Mokdad, Kyle Crowder, Sara Curran, and Jody Early, along with Dan Barnes (of the Barnes Family Foundation) and Meg Robertson, recently wrote an opinion about the scientific founds for linking social connectedness to health and well-being.  Published online at Think Global Health, the opinion argues for new research and efforts to better understand social connectedness and its role in promoting sustained well-being.

The Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) is hosting a webinar on Oct. 20th between 12:00-1:30 EST. “Securing Funding for Applied Research” will explore different kinds of private and public funding sources for applied research in population health and strategies for making your search for funding a success.

Led by moderator David Vlahov, Professor at Yale University’s Public Health and Nursing Schools, the panel also includes Kim Cassel, Principal at CasselView Advising; Erin Hagan, Deputy Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Evidence for Action Program; and Robert W. Turner II, Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science.

This virtual session is free to all. Register here to receive a link for participation.

You can also join us October 27, 2022, 4-5:30pm Eastern Time, when Erin Hagan will lead a small discussion group on “Developing a Concept Proposal or a Set of Specific Aims for an Applied Research Project.” There is a modest fee for the session and space will be limited. Attendance at the October 20 Webinar is recommended but not required for the small group session. Register here.

This webinar and small group discussion are the fourth in a year-long Research to Action Webinar series hosted by IAPHS. Full details on the series are available here.

To achieve more potent strategies to promote sustained health-related behavior change, there is a need for intentional and methodical translation of foundational behavioral and social science discoveries into new or improved interventions. The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and participating ICOs are issuing this Notice to highlight interest in the systematic development of original health-related behavioral interventions that test hypotheses that draw on basic behavioral and social sciences research findings that posit causal or processual mechanisms of action of healthier behavior change. This includes research that focuses on use-inspired bBSSR, understanding of mechanisms of action underlying initial and sustained behavior change, and systematic development and testing of health-related behavioral interventions and their components.

This FOA establishes an accelerated review/award process to support research to understand health outcomes related to an unexpected and/or time-sensitive event (e.g., emergent environmental threat; pandemic; change in local, state, or national policy; natural disaster). Applications in response to this FOA must demonstrate that the research proposed is time-sensitive and must be initiated with minimum delay due to a limited window of opportunity to collect baseline data, answer key research questions, and/or prospectively evaluate a new policy or program. This FOA is intended to support opportunities in which empirical study could only be available through expedited review and funding, necessitating a substantially shorter process than the typical NIH grant review/award cycle. The time from submission to award is expected to occur within 4-5 months. However, administrative requirements and other unforeseen circumstances may delay issuance dates beyond that timeline.[10/6 Webinar Registration]

Additionally, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is holding a technical assistance webinar related to this FOA:
Date: October 6, 2022
Time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
Register: https://scgcorp.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_A-eRLDrbTPinDM5i-70bLA [scgcorp.zoom.us]

The webinar will provide an overview of the FOA (PAR-22-233 [lnks.gd]) and provide an opportunity to address participant questions. NIH staff will discuss the purpose and scope of this funding opportunity, go over the scientific review process, and review criteria and other logistical information. Participants should submit their questions in advance of the webinar to Dr. Sarika Parasuraman (sarika.parasuraman@nih.gov) by COB on Tuesday, October 4th. An effort will be made to include all questions in the live discussion, but it is possible that not all will be addressed due to time constraints. Participation in the webinar is recommended but not required in order to apply to this funding announcement.

The NIH Common Fund’s Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program publishes a new Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA): Community-Led, Health Equity Structural Intervention Initiative (OTA-22-007) to support the development, implementation, assessment, and dissemination of community-led, health equity structural interventions, co-created in partnership with research organizations, that intervene upon structural factors that produce and perpetuate health disparities.

ComPASS is focused on community-led research that will intervene on structural factors that limit the optimization of health. The program aims to develop structural interventions that leverage multi-sectoral partnerships to improve health outcomes of communities, reduce health disparities, and to change systems, policies and practices to achieve optimal health for all.

For more details on how to apply read the full ROA here.

Additionally, NIH staff will hold technical assistance webinars for the required letter of intent (LOI) for all interested applicants on October 4th and October 11th at 2pm-3pm ET. Registration is required. Register here: bit.ly/compass-roa-webinar

Visit https://commonfund.nih.gov/compass [commonfund.nih.gov] for more information about the Common Fund’s ComPASS program, and please sign up for the ComPASS listserv to receive announcements about upcoming funding opportunities and additional program information.

We are looking forward to a lively Seminar and Lecture Series this year and many thanks to Professor Peter Catron for organizing these events.  Click here to access our poster or pick one up at our opening reception (September 30, 12:30-1:30 between Raitt & Savery Halls) or visit the CSDE seminar page.  This fall our speakers and talks include: Panel on the Washington 2022 Climate and Health Report (Oct. 7); Dr. A.R. Siders (Oct. 14) on the ethical dimensions of climate-related adaptations; Dr. Andres Villareal (Oct. 21) on earnings assimilation across immigrant generations; Dr. Tod Hamilton (Oct. 28) on “Lessons from a Century of Black Migration”; Dr. Zach Ward (Nov. 4) on multigenerational mobility in the U.S.; a panel on applied demography insights from Washington State (Nov. 18); Dr. Liying Luong (Dec. 2) on [insert]; and our famed lightning talks and poster session (Dec. 9).  If you want to share your research with a thoughtful community of scholars, don’t hesitate to reach out to Professor Peter Catron (catron@uw.edu) – there are still dates available for winter and spring and we’d LOVE to showcase your work.