New Appointments, January 18, 2005 NIH Record - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Abrams To Lead Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

Dr. David B. Abrams has been selected as NIH associate director for behavioral and social sciences research and director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. A professor of psychiatry and human behavior, professor of community health and codirector of transdisciplinary research at Brown Medical School's Butler Hospital, Abrams has been at Brown University in Rhode Island since 1978. He is also the founding director of Brown's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at the Miriam Hospital.

Dr. David B. Abrams
Abrams received his master of science and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Rutgers University, and completed his internship and postdoctoral training at Brown. He has held leadership positions in national and international professional societies, including serving as president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. He has also been chair of NCI's review group report on cancer control and a member of NCI's board of scientific advisors.
Abrams' areas of expertise include integrating fundamental sciences with translational applications and policy research; addressing issues along the entire wellness-disease continuum; examining health needs and behaviors in a diversity of populations, including the underserved; and crossing life span transitions.

In his new role, he will lead agency-wide initiatives in behavioral and social sciences research and facilitate collaborations across socio-behavioral and biomedical disciplines. As third director of OBSSR, Abrams succeeds Dr. Raynard Kington, now NIH deputy director.

Sheehy Named NIGMS Associate Director

Dr. Paul A. Sheehy has been appointed deputy associate director for extramural activities at NIGMS. He will help oversee the management of research and training grants and develop grant-related policies. He has worked at NIH since 1985. For the past 4 years, he has been a program director in the NINDS neurodegeneration cluster, where he managed projects ranging from individual research grants to large-scale clinical trials. Prior to that, Sheehy served for 10 years as a scientific review administrator at NINDS. He began his NIH career as a senior staff fellow in the NINDS Laboratory of Neurophysiology. He served on a number of trans-NIH working groups, including those with responsibility for human embryonic stem cells, imaging and dietary supplements.

Rodewald Joins NIGMS as Program Director

Dr. Richard Rodewald has joined NIGMS as a program director in the Division of Cell Biology and Biophysics. He will oversee research grants in the areas of cell biology and imaging. Prior to joining NIGMS, he spent 4 years as a scientific review administrator at the Center for Scientific Review, where he managed the study section for postdoctoral fellowships in cellular and developmental biology. Prior to that, he was a faculty member in the department of biology at the University of Virginia. His research there focused on immunoglobulin transport and kidney function.

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