Dear members,

let me briefly introduce myself to everybody. As of earlier this year, I was appointed the new Editor of our society's newsletter. I am very happy about this decision, and I thank you all for placing your trust in me. I am a junior faculty member at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and a guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA.

My predecessors have done a great job and left me with a healthy newsletter that is coming out twice a year. So, it's very nice to be able to build upon this previous work and establish the newsletter as an even more important means of communication and exchange of information among our society members than before. In order to accomplish that, I came up with a couple of changes that might pep up the newsletter a little bit and make it into something that every member is hopefully going to look forward to reading.

There will be the mainstays of every newsletter, which will be the letter of the Editor, the letter of our President, the news from the member societies, etc. But several new items will be added over the course of the next issues. As an example, I’m sure everybody is keen to learn more about the individual member societies. So, I am going to contact the member societies and ask for brief introductions. What are their individual goals, what is their structure, how many members do they have, what are they expecting from being part of the ISBM, etc? This will be a feature that will be a regular in future newsletters. We are going to start with the Finnish section of Behavioral Medicine in our Winter issue.

I would also like to spotlight individual members of our society, and introduce them by conducting brief interviews. There are so many interesting individuals out there working in our field. It would be exciting to learn more about them than just what their latest research is about. It could be instructive particularly for younger researcher to learn more about the career trajectories of senior researchers and how they got where they are now. These interviews will be conducted in a simple Q&A format.

Another new feature will be the Early Career Network corner. There are many young members at a pre- and post-doctoral level in our society. They recently formed a network and the newsletter (apart from the society’s homepage) will be a great outlet for their goals and initiatives (please see the announcement later on in this newsletter).

Of course, if you have any additional suggestions or ideas, please let me know: u.nater@psychologie.uzh.ch. This is your newsletter, after all! Also, submit any items regarding news and key events within your member societies, including announcements of upcoming meetings and conferences in your region.
I am looking forward to meeting you all in person in Tokyo!

Urs Nater

Newsletter Editor

It has been a distinct honor to serve as ISBM president over the past two years.  It has been a very busy two years, and I am happy to report that the state of ISBM is strong.  Herewith, a brief summary of some of the highlights.

Following the last Governing Council (GC) meeting in Bangkok (November 18, 2006) a number of actions were taken that grew out of that meeting.  Richard Peter was appointed to complete the term of Hege Eriksen, who was elected President-Elect, as Chair of the Communications Committee.  With support of $5,000 appropriated to enhance our communications, the transfer of the website to Ulm was accompanied by the recruitment of Nicole Schubert as Richard’s administrative assistant to assist in improving communications among Board and Governing Council members.   Following up the GC’s decision to follow outgoing President Antti Uutela’s advice that the Bylaws were in need of revision, I appointed Andrew Steptoe to head a committee consisting also of Linda Baumann, Kazunori Kayaba, Holger Ursin and Antti Uutela to undertake a comprehensive review of the Bylaws and propose appropriate revisions that will be submitted to the next Governing Council meeting to be held in Tokyo on August 26, 2008.  The committee’s report is posted on the ISBM website, and I encourage all ISBM members to read it.

A major part of my work as President during the past two years has been to engage actively with groups in parts of the world where behavioral medicine was not a strong presence, with the goal of encouraging the development of new societies that will join ISBM.  Following the Bangkok ICBM, I met with representatives of the Chinese Behavioral Medicine Association in Changsha, Hunan, to present background material about ISBM and behavioral medicine in general.  I am pleased to report that they have formed a Chinese Society of Behavioral Medicine and are working with Membership Chair Neil Schneiderman to finalize their application to be an ISBM member society at the upcoming Tokyo GC meeting.  In June, 2007, I attended the International Stress Management Association’s Brazilian Branch meeting in Porto Allegre, Brazil, again presenting background information about ISBM and behavioral medicine.  A Brazilian working group has been formed to work with Neil toward forming a Brazilian SBM that will be applying soon for ISBM membership.  And lastly, a delegation consisting of Brian Oldenburg, Neil Schneiderman, Bruce Alpert, Julian Thayer and myself met with a group of South African leaders in Johannesburg this past Feb 8-9.   We were very impressed by the quality of behavioral medicine related research and clinical work currently going on there.   An impressive group of leaders -- including Dr. Nomonde Xundu, the Chief Director for HIV/AIDS at the National Department of Health, as well as chairs of departments of both psychiatry and medicine at leading universities – was convened by Dr. Saths Cooper.  They are now working closely with Neil to prepare a charter and bylaws for a South African Society of Behavioral Medicine, and we are hopeful that these will be ready for submission to the GC in Tokyo this August.  In addition to these newly formed/forming societies, the German Society of Psychosomatic Medicine has indicated its intention to apply for ISBM membership, as has the Emerging Portuguese Society.   In addition to these more advanced activities in support of new societies, Brian Oldenburg has encouraged interested scientists from South Africa, Malaysia and India to attend the Tokyo ICBM and GC meeting.  With support from the Targets of Opportunity fund that was approved by the GC in Bangkok, I am pleased to report that these individuals will be able to attend.  I strongly encourage all to be on the lookout for representatives of these several new member societies and give them a warm welcome.

In addition to the foregoing activities related to new and emerging societies, there were several activities in support of current ISBM member societies.  In early July, 2007, the Board held one of its regular meetings in Madrid, in conjunction with a joint meeting of the Spanish Society and the Emerging Portuguese Society – a meeting that was facilitated by a grant from the Targets of Opportunity fund.  In August, 2007, I was an active participant in the regular meeting of the Central and Eastern European SBM that was held in Pecs, Hungary.

In addition to the foregoing I have been actively engaged in ISBM business on a number of other fronts.   I have worked closely with Joost Dekker to arrive at a decision regarding the choice of a publisher for IJBM.   I am very pleased to report that as of 1 January 2008, Springer will be the publisher of the IJBM.  Please refer to Joost’s editor-in-chief report on the ISBM website to learn more about the many improvements, including online access to IJBM, that will be available with Springer as our publisher.

The issue of future Congresses has required considerable attention during the past year.  As a result of difficulties and uncertainties imposed by the need to post up-front deposits, it became necessary for the UKSBM to withdraw its invitation to host ICBM2010.  With initial leadership and encouragement from Neil Schneiderman, the US Society of Behavioral Medicine agreed at its annual meeting this past March to explore the possibility of proposing to host ICBM2010 in the U.S.  With strong support and leadership from SBM President Bonnie Spring and Past-President Peter Kaufmann, a positive decision was reached and I am very happy to report that ICBM2010 will be held in the U.S., with Peter Kaufmann as Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee.  I encourage all to attend the Farewell Party in Tokyo on August 30 and express our enthusiastic appreciation to the U.S. SBM and to learn more about ISBM2010.

There are many persons without whose dedicated work for ISBM and help for me the past two years would have even more demanding and out of control – i.e., high strain -- than it has been.  To name them all would require too much space in this report, but let me urge all attending ICBM2008 in Tokyo to express our gratitude to and Board members you encounter, for all have worked very hard over the past two years to advance the interests of ISBM and its member societies.

Redford Williams
President

New publisher
As of 1 January 2009, IJBM will be published by Springer Science + Business Media. Springer is one of the largest scientific, technical and medical publishers in the world. It publishes over 1,750 journals in the fields of social and behavioral sciences, medicine, humanities, business and economics, engineering, mathematics, physics, and chemical sciences. Springer has experience in collaborating with academic and professional societies: almost one-fourth of the Springer journals are published on behalf of societies.

Negotiations with Springer have resulted in a markedly improved service level. Specifically, I would like to mention the following improvements:

• Free and easy electronic access of IJBM to members of all ISBM Member Societies
• Discounted member price for individual members of Member Societies for the hard copy of IJBM
• Increased editorial page budget and a supplement of the bi-annual conference abstracts
• Open Choice: this is Springer’s open-access option whereby for a fee authors may publish their article with permanent open access to all
• Web-based manuscript submission, review and tracking system
• Significant support for development of IJBM, improved marketing of IJBM and improved financial arrangements.

I feel that the new contract with Springer is big step forward.  IJBM as the official publication of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine, offers the Society a platform for scientific discussions. The improved electronic access and the discounted member price facilitate the scientific discussions among members. Contributors, reviewers and the team of (associate) editors will benefit from the web-based manuscript submission, review and tracking system. Support for development and improved marketing will help IJBM to achieve its aims. Thus, for all parties involved, this is an important step forward.

IJBM’s submission and review characteristics
My editorial assistant Nicole Vogelzangs has prepared a document on IJBM’s submission and review characteristics. This document addresses the years 2006 and 2007. I would like to summarize the following features:

• The number of submissions has increased from 62 in 2006 to 89 in 2007.
• The acceptance rate is ~ 43 %.
• The mean time before the first decision is made is 3.6 months. The mean time to final acceptance is 8.0 months
• The mean time to publication is 16.9 months (i.e. ~ 9 months after final acceptance).
• Approximately 50 % of the manuscripts originate from Europe, ~ 25 % from North America, and ~ 25 % from Asia, Oceania, Africa and Latin America.

These data show that IJBM is doing well. This is the result of the efforts of the Associate Editors and reviewers to provide high quality review of submitted manuscripts, in a short period of time. I want to thank all Associate Editors, reviewers and Nicole Vogelzangs for their efforts.

Joost Dekker
Editor-in-Chief IJBM

News from the ISBM Early Career Network

Aims of the group: To encourage emerging researchers in behavioral medicine around the globe to share ideas and support each other in developing their careers.

Activities at the 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine

EARLY CAREER WORKSHOP
Time: 27th August Afternoon session Venue: Rm 321

Doing research that has impact: Accelerating the translation of research into policy and practice

Facilitators: Professors James Sallis, San Diego State University, USA  and
Brian Oldenburg, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, AUSTRALIA

The purpose of this workshop is to assist early career researchers in developing research programs that more effectively contribute to the policy and practice goals of behavioral medicine. The workshop will help researchers identify and apply findings from research to the development and dissemination of behavior change interventions in the community and to inform policy changes. The speakers will discuss examples from their own research and the extent to which their research findings have had an impact on the community as well as on the practice of professionals and/or health policy. They will explore some of the reasons for these outcomes.  Presenters will discuss how to integrate research translation activities into productive academic careers. 

This workshop is supported by ISBM and there will be no cost for attendance.
Registration via tutorial workshop on website (http://www.icbm2008.jp/tutorial.html).

BREAKFAST MENTORING SESSION
Time: 28th August 7am to 8.15am Venue: Rm 52C

The aim of this session is to allow those early in their career to network with key researchers at an international level. The session will take place at a breakfast meeting.

*LUNCHTIME ROUNDTABLE
Time: 30th Aug 2008 Midday Venue: Rm 341
Chairs: Linda Cameron, Carina Chan, Marisa Finn

We will review and evaluate the inaugural workshop and mentoring session that were held during the congress. We will also discuss and expand on current work for connecting early career researchers at an international level. Possible activities to be held at the next congress will be explored. All are welcome. Please take your lunch and join us.

Co-ordinators: Carina Chan (carina.chan@med.monash.edu.my) and Marisa Finn (m.finn@auckland.ac.nz)