1996-1997 APA Science Policy Fellow Announced

This summer, APA selected Paul A. Scott, PhD, to be the 1996-1997 APA Science Policy Fellow. Dr. Scott will begin his fellowship September 1 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). He will work with Norman Anderson, PhD, Director of OBSSR, on a variety of issues that affect the conduct of behavioral research at NIH.

The APA Science Policy Fellowship was designed to provide a scientist the opportunity to learn firsthand how to work within the federal bureaucracy to advance the field of psychology. Dr. Scott, who is currently a Senior Scientist in the Biological Rhythms and Integrative Neuroscience (BRAIN) Research Institute at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas, is eager to gain this experience. In accepting the position, he wrote, 'This fellowship will allow me to combine a long-standing interest in policy with my scientific training as a research psychologist. Through the experience, I hope to gain a greater understanding of how national science policy decisions directly affect psychological research.' Dr. Scott received a PhD in psychology from Duke University in 1991.

APA's previous Science Policy Fellow, Karen Kovacs, PhD, worked for 2 years in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). This is the first year that APA has sponsored a fellow at OBSSR, which was established in 1995 to coordinate behavioral and social sciences research across NIH. APA is the only scientific organization to sponsor an executive branch fellow in the behavioral sciences.