Notice Number: NOT-OD-07-063

Key Dates
Release Date: April 26, 2007

Issued by
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), Office of the Director, NIH (http://obssr.od.nih.gov)

The NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, in collaboration with several NIH Institutes/Centers and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), plans to issue two Program Announcements using R01 and R21 funding mechanisms in early June 2007 and with an earliest start date in July 2008. The announcements will remain active for three years with receipts in September of 2007, 2008, and 2009. The purpose of these announcements is to encourage behavioral and social science research on the causes and solutions to health disparities in the U. S. population. Health disparities between, on the one hand, racial/ethnic populations, lower socioeconomic classes, and rural residents and, on the other hand, the overall U.S. population are major public health concerns. Emphasis is placed on research in and among three broad areas of action: 1) public policy, 2) health care, and 3) disease/disability prevention. Particular attention is given to reducing health gaps among groups. Proposals that utilize an interdisciplinary approach, investigate multiple levels of analysis, incorporate a life-course perspective, and/or employ innovative methods such as system science or community-based participatory research are particularly encouraged. These Funding Opportunity Announcements are a direct outgrowth of NIH s Health Disparities Research Plans and the NIH Conference on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities: The Contributions of the Behavioral and Social Sciences, October 2006 (http://obssr.od.nih.gov/HealthDisparities/index.html).

Inquiries

For further information regarding these potential PARs, please contact:

Ronald P. Abeles, Ph.D.
Special Assistant to the Director
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
Office of the Director
National Institutes of Health
31 Center Drive MSC 2027
Bldg. 31, Rm. B1C19
Bethesda, MD 20892-2027
Phone: 301.496.7859
Fax: 301.435-8779
E-mail: abeles@nih.gov