Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

OBSSR's program funds projects and activities which seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and apply that knowledge to optimize health and prevent or reduce illness for all people. Because BSSR provides valuable insights into human behavior—including how individuals and groups think, feel, behave, and interact—findings from BSSR can inform interventions and public health strategies to directly affect health outcomes. These programs are unique because they are projects of behavioral and social sciences research that should be conducted or supported by the national research institutes, and develop such projects in cooperation with such institutes. They can often be disease agnostic, but seek to advance the field and discoveries which could improve human health.