Jamie Ostrov, professor in the Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Review Study Section.

Ostrov’s term on the Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention (PDRP) Study Section runs from July 1 through June 30, 2024.

The PDRP is responsible for reviewing “applications that focus on the identification of individual and contextual risk and protective factors and processes on individuals, the prevention of psychopathology and problem behaviors, and the design and testing of intra- and inter-personal interventions related to social development across the life span,” according to the NIH website.

“I am humbled and excited to serve the field in this role, assisting with the peer-review process that strengthens our biomedical science field,” Ostrov says. “In particular, this work will inform important advances in developmental science and intervention efforts that may help children, adolescents and their families navigate challenging circumstances and contexts.”

Ostrov, who also serves as director of the UB Social Development Lab, is a developmental psychologist and psychopathologist whose research attempts to understand the development of subtypes of aggressive behavior in children, peer victimization and other social behaviors across development. He and his colleagues have been developing and testing the efficacy of an intervention for aggressive behavior among young children.

His funded research has been supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Science Foundation.

A faculty affiliate of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at UB, Ostrov has served as an expert panel member for the uniform definitions of bullying at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and as a consultant to the federal Stop Bullying Now campaign. He appeared on an internet-based episode of the PBS program “Sesame Street,” explaining to the show’s characters how to appropriately respond to bullying.