Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018 Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions - PROJECT ABSTRACT
The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) will hold its 39th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions from April 11-
14, 2018, in New Orleans, LA. This application seeks funding in support of meeting programming that addresses
the following specific aims: (1) to train attendees in the skills necessary to translate behavioral medicine research
to diverse audiences, maximizing behavioral medicine’s reach and impact, and improving individual and
population health; and (2) to broaden the impact of behavioral medicine research and practice—and to enhance
the diversity of behavioral medicine professionals—by providing mentoring and professional development to
trainees, junior faculty, clinicians, researchers, and others who attend the meeting. SBM is the nation’s leading
scientific society dedicated to behavioral medicine, representing approximately 2,400 behavioral and biomedical
researchers and clinicians from more than 20 disciplines. Behavioral medicine is an interdisciplinary field
comprised of researchers, practitioners, educators, and policymakers who focus on the development and
integration of behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical theory, knowledge, and interventions relevant to the
understanding of health and illness. Behavioral medicine professionals include psychologists, physicians,
nurses, epidemiologists, nutritionists, exercise scientists, biostatisticians, and public health experts. They work
to understand, prevent, and treat chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases,
diabetes, and cancer. In short, they improve health by helping people change their behaviors. This improves
quality of life and reduces healthcare costs. SBM’s annual meetings are the premier forum for behavioral
medicine’s most important ideas and breakthrough findings. The meeting’s educational sessions, formal
networking events, and informal networking forums promote the sharing of attendee knowledge in an open,
collegial way. This stimulates new thinking that can lead to scientific innovations. Attendees apply the knowledge
gained to the prevention and management of diseases, and the creation of innovative research designs, effective
clinical interventions, and evidence-based health policies. SBM meetings feature high-impact keynote speakers
and master lecturers who present topics such as “Advancing Health Equity” (Edward Ehlinger, MD, MSPH,
2015), “The Role of School Nutrition in Children's Health and Well-Being” (Jessica Donze Black, RD, MPH,
2016), and “Building Healthy Communities” (Robert Ross, MD, 2017). The 2018 SBM Annual Meeting will be
attended by an estimated 2,100 individuals from the United States and abroad, and will feature more than 1,400
presentations. The meeting theme is “Extending Our Reach." The meeting will encourage attendees to venture
outside of their academic and clinical comfort zones by connecting directly with community organizations,
industry partners, government agencies, the media, and the general public. Most of our country's most daunting
health challenges have behavioral origins, which makes this sort of outreach—and achieving SBM’s vision of
“better health through behavior change”—more important than ever.