Karen Glanz, the George A. Weiss University Professor in the School of Nursing and the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Integration Working Group.

The working group is Congressionally mandated to identify and recommend strategies for a more robust and focused NIH commitment to behavioral science research and training. The charge of the NIH BSSR Integration working group is to assess the current status of BSSR in NIH supported research and training and identify existing processes that should continue or be enhanced, and prepare a report including recommendations on ways to encourage greater BSSR integration and relevance to the research supported across the NIH.

“One reason I was invited to serve on this group is that I’ve served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Advisory Council for the past four years,” said Dr. Glanz. “The organizers were interested in having senior behavioral/social science researchers who are also familiar with how planning and funding decisions are made at the various Institutes. I’m excited to have this opportunity to contribute to improving the quality and scope of BSSR sponsored by the NIH.”