Core Group Member

David B. Abrams, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
31 Center Drive Building 31, Room B2B37
Bethesda, MD 20892-2027
Phone: 301-412-1982
Fax: 301-402-1150
Email: AbramsD@od.nih.gov

As Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), David B. Abrams, PhD., is responsible for advancing the mission of research in the behavioral and social sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and for advising the NIH Director and other key government officials on matters relating to the behavioral and social sciences.

Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Abrams was Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Professor of Community Health, and Director, Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at Brown Medical School.  His interests include the processes that nurture transdisciplinary integration among biomedical, behavioral, social, and public health sciences. His research is on lifestyle risk factors and addictions and includes: 1) basic mechanisms research on the co-morbidity of nicotine, alcohol, stress and mood regulation; 2) clinical research evaluating the efficacy of behavioral/pharmacological treatments for lifestyle change; and (3) dissemination research to evaluate cost-efficient interventions in community settings.  Dr. Abrams has published over 160 empirical articles, over 60 book chapters, and is lead author of “The Tobacco Dependence Treatment Handbook:  A Guide to Best Practices”.  He has been Principal Investigator on over 25 NIH-funded grants and Co-Investigator on over 65 other grant awards.

Dr. Abrams is a fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the American Psychological Association, and The Society of Behavioral Medicine.  He is a past President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and a recipient of their distinguished scientist award.  He was an Associate Editor of the Journal, Health Psychology.  Dr. Abrams is a past member of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute, The Harvard-Dana Farber Cancer Center, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Tobacco Etiology Research Network.