Looking Forward to SBM's 39th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions

The Society of Behavioral Medicine's (SBM's) 2018 Annual Meeting is quickly approaching! The 2018 Annual Meeting Program will focus on the theme of "Extending Our Reach." We will feature inspiring presenters providing concrete ways to expand the impact of behavioral medicine to policymakers, government agencies, community organizations, journalists, healthcare practitioners, industry partners, and other sectors interested in “better health through behavior change”.

Keynote speakers include, Dr. Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH, Dean of Boston University’s School of Public Health, whose work focuses on social problems that impact population health, issues like poverty, violence, substance use, and mass incarceration. He will be focusing on the connection between social divides and health. Also included is Dr. Gary Bennett, PhD, SBM’s president and a prominent researcher at Duke University who designs, tests and disseminates digital obesity treatments in the U.S. and globally. He will be highlighting how we can extend our reach and impact as behavioral scientists. Dr. Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc has served as New Orleans health commissioner and assistant secretary for health under the Obama administration. She is currently faculty at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School, and will be in conversation with Dr. Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, to discuss health beyond healthcare and building partnerships to impact public health. Participants can learn more about communicating behavioral medicine to the public from leading journalists in a keynote featuring Dr. James Hamblin, MD, writer and senior editor at The Atlantic, and Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times columnist. Finally, our closing keynote will feature Dr. Tom Farley, MD, MPH, current Philadelphia health commissioner and prior commissioner of NYC under Mayor Bloomberg. Dr. Farley has experience addressing health issues related to Big Tobacco and Big Soda and will address the role of marketing, counter-marketing and politics in promoting health behaviors.

Master Lecture speakers will include Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, founders of GirlTrek, the largest public health nonprofit for African American women and girls in the US that encourages them to walk their neighborhoods to “heal our bodies, inspire our daughters, and reclaim the streets.” Dr. Karen Emmons, PhD, past SBM president, member of the National Academy of Medicine, and professor of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will present as the winner of SBM’s 2017 Distinguished Scientist Award. Dr. Judy Ockene, PhD, MEd, MA past SBM president and chief of the Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Salud America!, a nonprofit working to prevent obesity for Latino children and families, will present as awardees for SBM’s 2017 Jessie Gruman Award for Health Engagement. Additionally, we will have a panel focused on translating behavioral science into policy, featuring Drs. Binta Beard, ScD, SM (Equinox Strategies), Sara Bleich, PhD (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), and Christina Roberto, PhD (Univ of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine). Dr. Joe Smyser, PhD, MSPH will present a lecture as the CEO of The Public Good Projects, a nonprofit that uses the power of mass media and communication to solve social problems. Finally, we will have a panel focused on engaging industry to enhance the impact of behavioral medicine, including Jeff Dachis (CEO, OneDrop), Dr. Deborah Kilpatrick, PhD (CEO, Evidation Health), Drew Schiller (CEO, Validic), and Vanessa Mason, MPH (co-founder, managing director of P2Health Ventures).

We also invite you to come to the opening and welcome of the conference on Wednesday evening, which will include comments by LaToya Cantrell, the first female mayor for the City of New Orleans. We strongly encourage you to stay through Saturday to hear our closing keynotes and master lectures, and the exciting science of your fellow colleagues. The conference hotel is conveniently located in the heart of the city of New Orleans, close enough for you to take a walk to enjoy food and music in the French Quarter. 

There is still time to register for the meeting, online registration is open through Tuesday, April 3 and onsite registration will be available beginning Wednesday, April 11 at 7:00am on the first level of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Don’t forget to register for continuing education credit and pre-conference sessions, and to book your hotel room if you haven’t done so, as the French Quarter music festival is occurring at the same time. A full schedule of session information is available here and via the 2018 Annual Meeting mobile app by searching SBM 2018 in your app store.

We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!