Editor's Note: We’re in This Together

Crystal Lumpkins, PhD; Editor, Outlook

Crystal Lumpkins, PhD

I’d like to echo our President’s message that “you’re not alone.” This sentiment is one that I wholeheartedly embrace as a researcher. There have been many times throughout the last year and a half that I have struggled. Those struggles were born out of the necessity to react responsibly during uncertain times. This society as a whole and a collection of voices from this organization were among the resources that helped me. Through the actions, words, and deeds of SBM members, I was able to find solutions (also resolutions) for a path forward. I am also grateful for the upcoming Annual Meeting theme “The Urgency of Adaptation.” This is a reminder that we as researchers, behavioral scientists and clinicians have a call to adapt and respond. The good news also is that we’re on this journey together and as the African proverb goes – “it takes a village.” In this SBM village, we are raising our voices through research to empower “our village” and others. We are creating a village of researchers to be responsive and to act nobly in normal and uncertain times. Our society is a family of sorts and has thrived in a time where others have wavered.

This issue of Outlook reflects our village, our voices, and the science that we do. We welcome Dr. Cheryl Knott as the incoming Translational Behavior Medicine Editor-in-Chief where she picks up the torch from Dr. Suzanne Miller who was instrumental in the increased TBM impact factor of 3.046. Other articles include the need for integration of implementation science into cardiovascular behavioral medicine and the “how to” of optimizing interventions. We are certainly looking forward to seeing each other in April of next year and encourage you to submit those late breaking findings; the portal for the Rapid Communication abstract submissions opens on October 15. Here’s to our SBM village and that we’re in this together!