April President's Message - Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine

Dear SBSM members,

It’s thrilling to sit down and pen my first President’s message to the SBSM membership. Like so many others, SBSM is my scientific home and I am honored to be at its helm.

I’m still flying high from the incredible meeting in Seattle last month. I want to express thanks and admiration for Kristi White, Program Committee Chair, the Program Committee, and Degnon staff for making it one for the books. Despite the gloomy weather, inside the Westin was bright with science. My thanks to you all as members for presenting such rigorous, important, and fascinating work. I hope to see you all in Chicago next March.

I thought I could use this space to talk about what I’d like to do between now and then. My presidency follows the outstanding work done by Tara Gruenewald, who used her hyper-effective leadership to get us through the ABC’s: She worked to convert our strategic plan into concrete action steps; she created a Sustainability and Strategic Implementation Working Group to document and formalize policies and procedures of our Society’s workings; she used her skills as former Treasurer to guide the society toward fiscal stability; and so much more that is vital to making an organization operate at peak effectiveness.

I’d like to continue on from her ABCs with the DEF’s:

D: Define and Defend

Our science is rigorous, yes, but it is also cool. The public needs to see that. I would like to engage in a public relations campaign of sorts, to highlight how biopsychosocial science and medicine is just so neat (in addition to being vital for public health and well-being). In other words, let’s define what biopsychosocial science and medicine is, in mainstream and understandable, eye-catching, sparkly terms.

Science and scientific institutions are under attack, and the Society must defend its members from threats like rescinded funding, threats to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and more (and more, and more, and more). We will dedicate a new section of our website that has resources and information to combat these threats. We also invite you to fill out our Federal Impacts Survey so we can understand the needs of our membership. In addition, SBSM is working with the other societies in the Behavioral Medicine Research Council (Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research, Society for Behavioral Medicine, Society for Health Psychology) to coordinate our efforts.

E: Embrace the East

There is exceptional biopsychosocial research happening in Asia, yet their footprint on our meeting is smaller than it should be. Moreover, as we anticipate loss of membership due to the aforementioned funding threats, Asia is an undertapped market where we can welcome new members. These members will strengthen our science by bringing in cultural perspectives to enhance global applicability and impact. I have been interfacing with SBSM member Michael Hoyt, who will take the reins as the President of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine this August. We’re working on ways to build connection with researchers in Asia to get them to an SBSM meeting—or to bring the meeting to them. In a Whova App poll during the Seattle meeting, Japan was voted the #1 desired location for our next international meeting; I would love to see that happen.

F: Fun and Friendship

In our strategic planning session, the facilitator pushed us over and over to clearly identify our Society’s golden handcuffs. Did we maybe offer some sort of required accreditation? No. Did we offer big grants that require membership for eligibility? No. After mulling it over, I realized that for me, FOMO (fear of missing out) functions as my golden handcuffs; I dare not miss a single moment of fun and friendship.

The relationships I’ve created at SBSM are longstanding and true. Two SBSM members were in my wedding party. Eight others were guests. Five of us meet every Wednesday morning to chat and write together. My SBSM friends are Co-Investigators on my grants. The camaraderie that SBSM creates is the secret sauce of our society, and I’d like to 10x it. Things feel a little dire right now, and we could all use some joy. I’m happy to say that Amanda Acevedo and Marie Cross, our incoming Program Committee Chairs, agree. So, I’ve informally appointed Sarah Pressman, noted scholar in positive emotions and health, as my Fun and Friendship Czar. Look for fun touches throughout, like a return of the photobooth, a boardgame room in parallel with the banquet, and much more. Casual conversations at a banquet or a future game night can spark groundbreaking project ideas and foster cross-institution collaborations that might otherwise never happen!

Friendships can only grow in a culture of inclusivity and warmth. To that end, I’m proud of our society for codifying that culture in the Guiding Principle of Belonging in our Strategic Plan, as well as in the plan’s Goal #3: Inclusive and Engaged Membership.

I hope you’ll join me in working toward these goals.

Sincerely yours,