NICHD Needs to Make Behavioral Science a Priority in its New Strategic Plan: Respond by 2/15
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is developing its next strategic plan, and it invites input from psychological scientists and others by February 15, 2019. NICHD is one of the top funders of psychological science in the US, but APS is concerned that psychological science and other behavioral research is underrepresented within the Institute’s developing priorities. We encourage scientists to weigh in via written comments to NICHD on how strong support for behavioral science research can contribute to NICHD’s important objectives.
NICHD’s request for information (NOT-HD-18-031) invites feedback on six scientific themes, goals, and opportunities under consideration for the new NICHD strategic plan. These include:
- Understanding Early Human Development
- Setting the Foundation for a Healthy Pregnancy and Lifelong Wellness
- Promoting Gynecological, Andrological, and Reproductive Health
- Identifying Sensitive Time Periods to Optimize Health Interventions
- Improving Health During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood
- Ensuring Safe and Effective Therapeutics and Devices
You can view more information about these six themes by clicking here.
Given that psychological science is central to all six of the above themes, APS encourages scientists who conduct research related to these themes or who otherwise recognize the significant value of behavioral science research write NICHD to ensure behavior research is prioritized along with the genetic, medical, and technological research areas mentioned within NICHD’s proposed themes. Psychological scientists may want to comment on the themes more generally or contribute additional themes for consideration, too.
Those wishing to provide feedback on NICHD’s strategic plan development should submit a written comment via email to NICHDStrategicPlan@nih.gov no later than Friday, February 15, 2019, indicating “RFI Response” in the subject line of the email.
APS also welcomes you to share your NICHD comments with us. Comments can be emailed directly to Andy DeSoto, Assistant Director for Policy, at adesoto@psychologicalscience.org.
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