RESUMO
Although the history of CDC spans 60 years, only during the last 2 decades of the 20th century did the agency come to recognize and better understand the importance of the behavioral and social sciences to its overall mission. This recognition was a consequence of several events, notably the growing public awareness of the many conditions and diseases linked to unhealthy behavior and the creation of three new organizational units at CDC--the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in 1988, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in 1992, and the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention in 1993--that focused on conditions, diseases, and injuries with clear behavioral risks. Accordingly, the relatively small number of CDC behavioral and social scientists were initially concentrated in these three centers. In 1995, to raise awareness of behavioral and social sciences at CDC and to integrate these fields into CDC-conducted and -supported research and practice activities, the agency's behavioral and social scientists established the Behavioral and Social Sciences Working Group (BSSWG). The application of the behavioral and social science disciplines to public health attests to the success of the working group. Today, BSSWG continues as a formal organization sponsored by the Office of the Chief Science Officer within the CDC Office of the Director.