William (Bill) Elwood, Ph.D.

Dr. Bill Elwood serves as the Chief of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Branch. Prior to joining NIDCR, he served as a health scientist administrator for the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). In that role, he led NIH-wide initiatives to increase the breadth and scope of research on basic behavioral, sociological, and biopsychosocial processes that influence health-related behaviors. He also facilitated NIH-funded researchers to augment intervention studies with behavioral, sociological, or biopsychosocial variables to facilitate more precise understanding of the mechanisms and processes that lead to healthier behavior change and maintenance.

Dr. Elwood facilitated the NIH-wide Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) from 2010-2022. He managed the annual NIH Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Honors competition since its founding in 2016 through 2024. He also served as scientific review officer for the Center for Scientific Review’s Community-Level Health Promotion study section.

Dr. Elwood obtained his Ph.D. in communication and health policy from Purdue University. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Elwood conducted funded research throughout the United States and Mexico on healthcare delivery, mental health, substance abuse, family health and wellbeing, public housing-based initiatives, and STI/HIV prevention. He is particularly interested in research that synthesizes and expands discipline-specific knowledge to generate interventions that have a more powerful impact on the public’s health.