Our Child Nutrition Ambassadors educate lawmakers about evidence-based ways to ensure children from all income levels have access to and actually eat healthy foods.

Example policy outcomes:

• Maintain and strengthen healthy school meal standards (e.g., Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act)
• Protect or increase funding for programs such as SNAP and WIC

Ambassadors:

Elizabeth L. Adams, PhD (Lead)
Roger Figueroa Bautista, PhD, MPH, MSc
Emily Belarmino, PhD, MPH
Rizwana Biviji, PhD, MS
Alyssa Button, PhD
Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, PhD
Sydney Miller, PhD
Jesse Moore

Climate Change and Health Ambassadors educate lawmakers about evidence-based behavioral ways to mitigate climate change and its adverse effects on health, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Example policy outcomes:

• Increase federal funding for climate, health, and behavioral research
• Increase funding and incentives for active transportation infrastructure (e.g., bike lanes) that benefits both health and the climate

Ambassadors:

Katie Alegria, PhD
Utpol Das, MPH
Elissa Epel, PhD
Sara Fleszar-Pavlovic, PhD (Lead)
Veronica Irvin, PhD, MPH, FSBM
Alison Phillips, PhD

Non-pharmacological Pain Management/Opioid Misuse Ambassadors educate lawmakers about evidence-based ways to best manage pain and combat opioid misuse.

Example policy outcomes:

• Increase ACA reimbursement for evidence-based behavioral interventions, such as behavioral counseling, for patients with chronic pain and/or opioid use disorders
• Increase Medicare coverage for Medication Assisted Treatment for opioid use disorders and ensure behavioral components are an essential component of this treatment

Ambassadors:

Katrina AuBuchon, PhD
Kristen R. Fox, PhD (Lead)
Rashelle Hayes, PhD, FSBM
Lisa LaRowe, PhD
Yinin Li, PharmD, MPH
Lisa Uebelacker, PhD

Example policy outcomes:

• Fund NIH’s base budget with at least $51.303 billion in fiscal year 2026
• Assert Congress’s constitutional budgetary authority to ensure NIH grants are not paused, frozen, terminated, or otherwise disrupted
• Ensure that any NIH restructuring includes high-level behavioral science emphasis across all institutes and centers

Ambassadors:

Angela Bryan, PhD, FSBM
Lorraine Buis, PhD, MSI, FSBM
Jasmine Lewis, PhD
Jennifer Mandelbaum, PhD, MPH
Shelagh Mulvaney, PhD
Katt Rathod
Sherri Sheinfeld-Gorin, PHD, FSBM

Our Infectious Disease Prevention and Care Ambassadors educate lawmakers about evidence-based ways to reduce or eliminate infectious diseases, and to properly care for those infected or at high risk.

Example policy outcomes:

• Uphold the Congressionally required and science-backed tenets of the NIH Strategic Plan, including the Congressional mandate to focus on “prevention of health conditions”
• Ensure that health insurance plans cover the HIV prevention medication PrEP and cannot discriminate against individuals using PrEP, such as by passing the PrEP Access and Coverage Act
• Understand that through rigorous scientific research and extensive testing, vaccines have consistently proven their ability to save lives, prevent illness, and protect entire communities.

Ambassadors:

Angel Algarin, PhD (Lead)
Utpol Das, MPH
Zaw Wai Htoo, PhD
Adam Landeros, MPH, MS
Elizabeth Lockhart, PhD
Mariajose Paton, PhD
Sherri Sheinfeld-Gorin, PhD, FSBM