Sonja M. Preston, M.S.W.
Health Specialist, Tobacco Regulatory Science Program
Ms. Preston joined the ODP in June 2015 as a Health Specialist to assist with coordination and implementation of Tobacco Regulatory Science Program (TRSP) activities. Prior to TRSP, Ms. Preston was a Management Analyst and Health Specialist in the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), where she assisted with program management and professional support for a number of initiatives, including the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), the International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral Modeling, and Prediction (SBP10), and other OBSSR-related activities. Ms. Preston also served as Executive Secretary for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Coordinating Committee (BSSR-CC) and was responsible for various budgetary and policy activities. She was awarded two Distinguished Performance Awards from Kelly Government Services.
Prior to NIH, Ms. Preston served as a grant project administrator at the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs, where she was responsible for the administration of an NIH/NIGMS grant. While at APA, Ms. Preston also served as Staff Liaison for the Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology and as Grant Project Coordinator in the Women’s Programs Office, where she organized both national and international conferences on Work, Stress, and Health funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Ms. Preston was also a Research Analyst in APA’s Women’s Programs Office, where she evaluated research on gender issues and analyzed and formulated policy statements affecting women.
Ms. Preston earned her Master of Social Work in public policy and administration and her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Howard University in Washington, D.C.