New NIH and NSF Partnership to Support Interdisciplinary Research on Social and Behavioral Aspects of Epidemiological Models.

  • By: Deborah Carr

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have released a solicitation for the Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM) program, which supports projects interdisciplinary research on social and behavioral aspects of epidemiological models.  Specifically, IHBEM involves the NSF Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS); Biological Sciences (BIO); and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).  As the program seeks to facilitate the creation of robust modeling mechanisms, projects should ultimately inform public health policies and decision-making during emergencies to maximize the efficacy of interventions and improve health outcomes.  Proposals should incorporate meaningful contributions from the mathematical as well as the social and behavioral sciences through collaborations between two or more PIs or co-PIs.

This solicitation is the latest in a series of recent joint initiatives between NSF and NIH.  In January, the NIH National Cancer Institute and MPS issued a Dear Colleague Letter seeking to accelerate the interdisciplinary study of cancer as a living material.  In addition, earlier this month, NSF released a new solicitation for the Molecular Foundations of Biotechnology (MFB) program, with this year’s edition focused on RNA biotechnologies in partnership with the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).

The IHBEM solicitation includes a focus on mentorship and workforce development, particularly encouraging training students and postdoctoral researchers at the intersection of mathematical and social, behavioral, and economic sciences.  Proposers should describe their plans to recruit, mentor, and retain trainees, and how they intend to broaden participation to demographics that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM.

As part of this program, NIDA particularly expresses interest in proposals focused on the health and social repercussions of drug use.  Similar to the most recent MFB solicitation, some proposals will be selected to be considered for funding by NIH, and those proposers will be invited to submit re-formatted applicants to NIH for review.

Eligibility Information: While there is no limit on the number of proposals an organization may submit, an individual may only be designated as PI or co-PI on one proposal.

Due Dates: Full proposals must be submitted by April 14, 2023.

Award Information: This program will provide 10-15 awards of up to $1 million for projects lasting three to four years.  A total of up to $5.5 million is available per year for new awards through this program, with up to $3.5 million from NSF and up to $2 million from NIH/NIDA.

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