Mission and Research Agenda
The Basic and Biobehavioral Research Branch (BBRB), was specifically chartered as the extramural foundation for research on fundamental behavioral science to develop theoretical models, identify underlying mechanisms and principles of behavior change and conduct pre-intervention research to inform the next generation of cancer control interventions and social policies.
Through BBRB, NCI supports the study of fundamental behavioral, psychological, and social processes, interactions of those processes with biological factors and their subsequent impact on cancer risk, disease development and remission, and cancer-related risks and protective behaviors. Much of the research in this area is pre-intervention research directed at understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying behavior. BBRB supports a broad spectrum of basic behavioral and biobehavioral research, including: development of models of behavior change; research focused on identifying biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors associated with cancer-related risk and protective behaviors; behavioral genetics research; research on basic psychological processes in decision making; and research on basic decision making processes related to cancer screening, cancer risk assessment, genetic testing, cancer prevention, and treatment. BBRB also supports psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) research, including that which examines: how stress and other psychosocial factors interact with the central nervous system, the neuroendocrine, and the immune systems to impact disease progression and remission; and the impact of psychological/behavioral factors on other biological mechanisms (e.g., DNA damage and repair) impacting cancer etiology or progression.
The BBRB research agenda includes, but is not limited to
- basic research in social, cognitive, and psychological processes (e.g., social comparison, mechanisms underlying neurocognitive changes associated with cancer treatment, emotion, and motivation)
- biological mechanisms of psychosocial or behavioral processes related to cancer control (e.g., stress/behavioral regulation of tumor biology)
- medical decision making (e.g., role of numeracy in medical decision making, elucidating decision processes involved in maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviors)
- methodology and measurement in behavioral science research (e.g., psychophysiological assessment, measurement of stress and other psychological constructs)
- development and testing of models and theories of health behavior
- psychosocial and behavioral consequences of cancer risk assessment (e.g., risk perception)
- basic research in health communication (e.g., message framing, use of heuristics, decision support)
- genetic and environmental influences on health behaviors related to cancer control
- mediators and moderators of adaptation and coping
- integration of social psychology and personality constructs and theories to advance understanding of cancer related behavior
- basic processes of interpersonal communication
- ethical issues in behavioral research in cancer control and population sciences (e.g., informed consent, privacy, use and availability of data, and confidentiality)
- psychological and social environments as moderators of genetic susceptibility to cancer
- research that links levels of analysis from broad social influences to biological mechanisms
- research that applies novel approaches, measures, and methods (including qualitative and mixed methods) to basic behavioral and biobehavioral research
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