September 9, 2021

Congress Debates Spending Priorities

Congress faces key deadlines at the end of September as they work to pass annual funding measures, infrastructure legislation, and a massive package of President Biden’s priorities, as well as lift the federal debt limit. Research funding may see benefits, but obstacles to the regular appropriations process may also cause disruptions. Read more»

American Rescue Plan Funds Education Research

Congress provided $100 million to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, following FABBS and community requests. Director Mark Schneider recently shared an update on how IES is leveraging those funds to improve data collection and create a more efficient path from research to practice.Read more »

New Congressional Caucus on Social Determinants of Health

Earlier this summer, a bipartisan group of legislators announced a new congressional caucus to address the social determinants of health. The formation of the caucus followed the spring introduction of legislation – Social Determinants Accelerator Act (HR 2503), directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an interagency council on social determinants of health and would allocate $153 million over the next five years to relevant local government projects.Read more »

New NICHD EDI Initiative Will Shape the Next Five Years (in the Institute)

The STRIVE initiative, STrategies to EnRich Inclusion and AchieVe Equity, sets goals to increase diversity in the institute's research portfolio and demographics. It features three distinct, but inter-related themes: (1) ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in NICHD’s workforce; (2) enhancing opportunities for EDI in the broader scientific workforce, and (3) planning, conducting, and supporting health disparities research.Read more»

White House Publishes FY 2023 Budget Memo

On August 27, the White House released a Memorandum on R&D Priorities for the FY 2023 Budget providing guidance to federal agencies as they develop budget requests. Members of FABBS may be interested to note the explicit mention of supporting interdisciplinary research, including social sciences as well as the importance of considering the social determinants of health.Read more »

Q&A: Dr. Barbara A. Spellman Comments on Why You Should Join AAAS

Dr. Barbara Spellman currently serves as the Secretary of the Psychology Section at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). FABBS interviewed her on why AAAS needs more psychological and behavioral scientists and on the opportunities for networking, engaging with policy-makers, and in communicating research to the press and the public that are offered to researchers and students who join.Read more »

Upcoming Member Society Meetings

• Society for Research in Psychopathology(Sep 23-26)
• Society of Experimental Social Psychology(Oct 7-9)
• Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research(Oct 8-11)
• Society For Psychophysiological Research(Oct 10-18)

FABBS News Highlights is a semi-monthly electronic newsletter published by the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences with the goals of keeping scientists updated on federal budget and policy issues affecting the sciences of mind, brain and behavior; recognizing the research contributions of leading scientists; and sharing research findings to inform policies and programs.

Editor: Juliane Baron

Contributors:Andrew Deshler and Jaclyn Sadiua

Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research • American Educational Research Association • American Psychological Association  • American Psychosomatic Society  • Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback • Association for Behavior Analysis International • Behavior Genetics Association •  Cognitive Neuroscience Society •  Cognitive Science Society • Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology • International Congress of Infant Studies • International Society for Developmental Psychobiology • Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society • National Academy of Neuropsychology • The Psychonomic Society • Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology • Society for Computation in Psychology • Society for Judgment and Decision Making • Society for Mathematical Psychology • Society for Psychophysiological Research • Society for Research in Child Development • Society for Research in Psychopathology •  Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues • Society for the Scientific Study of Reading • Society for Text & Discourse  • Society of Experimental Social Psychology • Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology • Vision Sciences Society

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FABBS Mission

FABBS promotes human potential and well-being by advancing the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior; promoting scientific research and training in these fields; educating the public about the contributions of research to the health and well-being of individuals and society; fostering communication among scientists; and recognizing scientists who have made significant contributions to building knowledge.