Awards
SBM annually provides awards recognizing outstanding achievement and contribution to the field of behavioral medicine. Award recipients are recognized at the society's Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions.
Congratulations, 2024 Award Winners!
To view additional past award recipients, please select the award below.
Robert T. Croyle Behavioral Medicine Service Award
This award recognizes outstanding service to SBM and the broader field through non-traditional pathways. It honors a person or group that has consistently fostered and enhanced the field of behavioral medicine through industry, governmental agencies, training programs, public policy groups, public education, or non-governmental charitable or foundation organizations. This award is open to individuals and organizations as well as members and non-members
Distinguished Mentor Award
For many, there was one individual who really stood out during training. It may have been an advisor or a faculty member who took a special interest. The Mentor Award was designed to honor outstanding service as a mentor in the clinical and professional arena, in either clinical and/or research endeavors. Nominees should be mentors who have fostered excellence in, and had a major impact on, the field of behavioral medicine by virtue of their roles as mentors.
Distinguished Scientist Award
Selection for the Distinguished Scientist Award is based on total career achievement. Nominees must have achieved scholarly distinction (i.e., made a series of distinguished empirical contributions or contributed substantially to the development of new theories or methods). Recipients are invited to give a master lecture at SBM's annual meeting.
Distinguished Student Awards
These awards are provided to students who demonstrate outstanding academic and professional potential in the field of behavioral medicine. The three award categories for the Distinguished Student Awards include Excellence in Research, Excellence in Service Delivery, and Travel Scholarship. At least three Excellence in Research awards will be given annually, with one award honoring the late Dr. Karen Calfas, one award honoring the late Dr. C. Barr Taylor, and one honoring Dr. Redford B. Williams.
Deborah J. Bowen Early Career Investigator Award
The Deborah J. Bowen Early Career Investigator Award recognizes an early career individual’s total career achievements so far, including a review of a representative published paper.
Deborah J. Bowen, PhD, was an active SBM member throughout her career until her death in August 2022. She was involved in many facets of SBM, but she called the Cancer Special Interest Group, which she once chaired, her primary academic home. Dr. Bowen was a senior faculty member in the University of Washington's Department of Health Services and a member with the Public Health Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her wide ranging and impactful research mainly focused on bio-behavioral determinants of diverse forms of healthcare delivery and health promotion, including cancer prevention and genomic medicine. This award keeps her memory alive by annually recognizing behavioral medicine excellence.
Excellence in Behavioral Medicine Training Program Award
This award is no longer offered. The purpose of the Excellence in Behavioral Medicine Training Program Award was to identify and honor a training program at any level that provided behavioral medicine training.
Health Policy Advocacy Award
The Health Policy Advocacy Award recognizes an individual’s contributions and exemplary work in translating or extending behavioral medicine from research to policy. Eligible candidates have made substantial contributions to advocating for policy changes based on research evidence including: (a) developing and disseminating health policy briefs or calls to action; (b) advocating at state or federal levels for policy change; (c) serving in leadership roles to advance SBM's policy agenda; or (d) developing relationships with like-minded organizations to increase the impact of SBM's advocacy work.
Jessie Gruman Award for Health Engagement
This award recognizes pivotal and extensive contributions to research, practice, and/or policies that have advanced the understanding of patient engagement. Recipients are invited to give a master lecture at SBM's annual meeting. This award is open to individuals and organizations.
Leading the Narrative Award
Two Leading the Narrative Awards will be given annually. The first Leading the Narrative Award recognizes a piece or series of pieces that communicate behavioral medicine science to a public audience. Examples of such pieces include popular press articles, op-eds, podcasts, videos, social media activity, infographics, Science Cafés, public presentations, blog posts, Skype a Scientist, TED Talks, and/or TV/radio appearances. Papers in scientific journals do not qualify as science communication. The piece must have been released or published in the 2022 calendar year. This award is available to individuals at all career levels.
The second Leading the Narrative Award recognizes an SBM member who has contributed to the Healthy Living article page on SBM’s website. All articles that receive more than 400 views in the 2022 calendar year will be eligible for the award. No award application is necessary.
Outstanding Dissertation Award
Each year SBM recognizes excellence in a student/trainee member’s research through the Outstanding Dissertation Award.
Elliot J. Coups Improving Health through Behavioral Medicine Award
The Elliot J. Coups Improving Health Through Behavioral Medicine Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated the application of research to improve health in individuals, groups, or populations. Eligible candidates may be engaged in research, industry, or clinical work, and may have made substantial contributions to any phase of translational work, including: (a) developing new and effective dissemination or implementation strategies; (b) encouraging the application of effective, sustainable health-promoting interventions in new contexts; (c) fostering development of practice-based research; or (d) applying health improvement research in community settings or in society at large.