President's Message
I am honored to begin my term as President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. I attended my first SBM meeting as a student in 1988 and have missed only one meeting since, in 1997, when the date coincided with the week my son Aaron was born. SBM has played a central role in my own professional development, as I know it has for many of you, and I am pleased to be able to give back to our Society in this manner.  Read more »

Award Winners
Congratulations to the following 2012 Society of Behavioral Medicine Achievement Awards recipients!
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2012 Annual Meeting Recap
Congratulations to everyone involved in the 33rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of SBM; our Society established a new attendance record with over 1700 registrants for the meeting. We hope that everyone had a rewarding and enjoyable experience in New Orleans, and we look forward to achieving new heights in 2013 and beyond. Read more »

SBM Abstract Submission Process Demystified
As SBM Conference Program Co-Chair last year, I participated in the complex process that goes into planning and executing the annual meeting. It was very illuminating, and I realized how little I had actually known before about the decision-making process for selecting the proposals that are accepted for presentation at the conference, how the papers are grouped into sessions, when in the program specific presentations are scheduled, and so on. Discussions with SBM members confirmed that additional information about the process might be helpful, so the Editors of Outlook invited the Program Committee to contribute an article to this issue to help demystify the process.  Read more »

Membership Council
The Society of Behavioral Medicine's Membership Council is one of the five permanent councils and is charged with recruitment and retention of members. In accordance with the SBM mission statement, this is a multi-dimensional goal focused on recruiting interdisciplinary members involved in a variety of clinical, research, administrative and educational pursuits.  Read more »

Diabetes SIG Update
The mission of the Diabetes SIG has been to create a forum for members of the Society of Behavioral Medicine with a shared interest in the advancement of behavioral and psychological research in diabetes. Our goals are to: 1) increase the presence of high-quality behavioral medicine research in diabetes at the SBM conference; 2) encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, clinicians, educators, and public health advocates that emphasizes the importance of the prevention and treatment of diabetes; and 3) support professional networking and the training of young investigators and students interested in diabetes research.  Read more »

Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine SIG Update
The Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine Special Interest Group (EBBM SIG) has grown over 30% during the past year, and now includes about one-quarter of SBM's members! Thank you for supporting the importance of creating, enriching, teaching, and disseminating evidence in behavioral medicine.  Read more »

SBM Around the World - International Research Conducted by Physical Activity SIG Members
This Outlook article highlights some of the impressive international research activities being conducted by SBM Physical Activity Special Interest Group (PA SIG) around the world.  Read more »

SBM Members Come Together to Establish a New SIG: Military and Veterans' Health
At the 2012 Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, the newly formed Military and Veterans' Health Special Interest Group (MVH SIG) had its first official meeting and is now fully established as one of SBM's newest SIGs. With the goal of promoting health within the unique health care systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), this interdisciplinary SIG elected co-chairs to represent both the VA and the DoD.  Read more »

Religious and Spiritual Phenomena are Relevant to Virtually All Areas of Health
In recent years, research on the links between religion/spirituality (R/S) and physical health has increased dramatically in both sophistication and sheer volume (see Masters & Hooker, in press, for a review). The importance and applicability of R/S to physical health have yet to be recognized by the broader health research community, but the fact is that aspects of R/S cut across virtually every area of health research and are therefore highly germane to all members of SBM.  Read more »

Weighing in on the "War on Women"
A few years ago there was some discussion at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine as to whether the Women's Health Special Interest Group was still relevant. Fast forward a few years and an election cycle and women's health issues are again in the news in the form of debates over contraceptive coverage and funding of preventive health services. Granted, the larger popular discussion of the "War on Women" has been divisive and partisan, however, it has served to highlight the importance of women's health.  Read more »

Newest Articles from Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine
SBM's two journals, Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine (TBM), continuously publish articles online, many of which become available before issues are printed. A few of the newest Annals and TBM articles currently accessible online are listed below. Read more »

Honors, Awards and Publications
A new feature of Outlook this year showcases some of SBM members' recent honors, awards and publications. If you would like to have your honor, award or publication featured in the next issue please forward the details of your achievement to Amanda Graham, PhD, Outlook Editor. Congratulations to all of the following members.
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