Dear SBSM Members,
Welcome to 2025! We hope the start of the new year has been one of invigoration and enthusiasm for the accomplishment of personal and professional goals in the year to come.
As we move toward the goals of our new year, we also want to reflect on what was accomplished in the prior year. In Looking Back, Looking Forward, we outline key strategic actions that were taken in support of our Society 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. We also highlight our strategic action goals for this year. Our 2024 accomplishments are the result of passionate and engaged members and leaders who give of their hearts and time in the tenacious advancement of our goals across the year. I know I am not alone in feeling inspired by my Society colleagues.
This new year also brings a new name for our Society journal – Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine (BSAM). In our inaugural issue of BSAM, Pete Gianaros and Society colleagues outline the processes and events that led to our historic name change last year and predict a new era of clinical and public health impact of our science and its applications in Towards a Second Social Movement in Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine. Karl Meier reviews the biopsychosocial evolution of our field and outlines a conceptual framework for comprehensive health in 21st Century science and medicine. The first issue of BSAM is filled with the rigorous science of our members and those outside of the Society, an editorial by Daryl O’Connor on the addition of registered reports to the journal, and the publication of our very first full registered report article. Kudos to BSAM Editor-in-Chief, Suzanne Segerstrom, and the editorial team for their development of a stellar first issue of the journal.
The coming months will also bring the election of new leaders of the Society. Council recently released the 2025 SBSM Slate of election candidates. Each was selected by the Nominating Committee from a record number of member-generated nominations. The final candidates were chosen based on their strong and exemplary records of leadership and service to the Society. Consideration in the selection process was given to multiple diversity-related issues, including gender, membership in underrepresented groups, level of seniority, nationality, and disciplinary affiliation. Detailed candidate information and the election ballot will be distributed to members in late February. Be sure to renew your Society membership now so that you can participate in electing our future leaders.
A highlight of the coming year will be our 2025 SBSM Annual Meeting. Our 82nd annual meeting, Biopsychosocial Science and the Future of Health and Well-Being Across the Lifespan, will occur March 19th – 22nd in Seattle, Washington. Program Committee Chair, Kristi White, and fellow committee members have organized an exciting agenda of symposia and oral presentations, posters, roundtables, special interest group meetings, and member events. Please visit our annual meeting website for conference and hotel registration information. Be sure to sign up for mentor and mentee events and come ready to properly end the conference with a night of dancing at our closing banquet.
We are also launching sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities at this year’s annual meeting. These include opportunities to showcase a new book, product, service, or study resource. Please explore these opportunities to support the Society or share them with a colleague, company, or organization that might be interested in connecting with our members.
This message of hopeful anticipation of good things in the year to come is not meant to ignore the anxiety that many feel about an uncertain future for science, medicine, and education. SBSM remains committed to partnering with the Federation of Associations in Brain and Behavioral Sciences and other organizations in continued advocacy of our Society mission, our members and our work.
We also know this month has been one of challenge for some of our members and colleagues, especially those affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California. The fires followed a prior year of multiple large-scale weather-related disasters in the U.S. and other nations. These tragedies underscore the value of member efforts to investigate the role of climate change in our individual and collective health and well-being.
In a time when it often feels like we are taking more steps back than forward, the energy and motivation to advance our goals can elude us. Such moments require connection to collaborators past and present. This includes Martin Luther King Jr., whose life and legacy we honor on this day. Our challenges and efforts may pale in comparison to those of his time, but we can nonetheless be inspired by his actions and his words. These include his directive that we must move forward “with an audacious faith in the future.”
We look forward to a year of audacious advancement for SBSM and society at large.
Tara Gruenewald, PhD, MPH
President, 2024-2025, SBSM