 
Newsletter of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine
No. 4 / Volume 3 / September 2003
Contents
News from the editor
During the last ISBM Governing Council meeting in Thailand, I was appointed as the new editor of the ISBM Newsletter. I am pleased to introduce the new and latest Newsletter to you. I hope the new design and content of the Newsletter will help in increasing the information flow from the members in ISBM.
The content of the newsletter is very much up to the members and member societies to develop. The intention is to give new information that you will not find on the ISBM regular website.
As before, we plan to publish the Newsletter twice a year. Any input and/or announcements you have are welcome, and should be emailed to the hege.eriksen@psych.uib.no. I also encourage feedback on content, layout, future Newsletters etc.
The next Newsletter is planned to be published in Spring 2004. If the response on this Newsletter is good, and there is much interesting news from the member societies, I will consider a Newsletter before that.
Hege R. Eriksen
Editor
The recent meetings held in Thailand
The ISBM Governing Council (consisting of the Executive Council, Comittee chairs, and representatives of the national member organisations) met in Bangkok June 30 - July 1, 2003. At the last meeting of the EC in Salt Lake City in March, 2003, the new Thai Society of Behavioral Medicine invited ISBM to organize the 2006 conference (the 9th) in Bangkok, and the GC had as one of its main items on the agenda to visit the potential venues for the conference.
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At the same time, Council members participated in the Thai Society of Behavioral Medicine Third Annual Conference of Behavioral Medicine July 1-4, 2003, in Bangkok. The annual meeting was also combined with a First Asian Regional Conference on Behavioral Medicine. The Regional Conference was less attended than hoped for due to the SARS epidemic, but the national arrangement was well attended.
For more information and reports from governing council meeting, log into the members only documents at http://www.isbm.miami.edu.
Several Council members were also active as teaching staff at a preconference workshop about "Behavioral Medicine and Health Promotion" at the National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University.
The Thai organisation has an impressive record already. It also seems to have a firm position within several universities, in particular the Mahidol, and good geographical and disciplinary spread. The key persons are from child and family development, public health, neurobehavioral biology, psychology, rehabilitation and psychiatry. They also have an efficient collaboration with other related disciplines, other organisations, and government. The lists of speakers from Thai institutions were indeed impressive, from advisors to the government to an invitation letter from the Bangkok Governor. |
ISBM International congresses
The Eighth International Congress, in Mainz, Germany, 25 - 28 august 2004
The next Congress is the Eighth International Congress, in Mainz, Germany, 25 - 28 august 2004 (http://www.icbm-2004.de/). Mainz is about 20 minutes from Frankfurt by train. Deadline for submissions is December 1, notification of acceptance should be in your hands by March, 2004. P lease note that information and submissions can be get/made via Internet (http:// www.icbm-2004.com ). |
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Don't miss the.
8th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, Mainz, Germany, 25-28 Aug. 2004
The theme of this large World Congress will be 'Integrating Social and Behavioral Sciences with Medicine and Public Health'. The designated program tracks will cover all aspects of Behavioral Medicine and related fields, including research related to basic mechanisms, clinical treatments and public health/health promotion research.
Keynote presentations will be given by Sheldon Cohen (USA), Herta Flor (Germany) and George Kaplan (USA). There will also be Master Lectures given by Michael Antoni (USA), Clemens Kirschbaum (Germany), Johannes Siegrist (Germany), Jane Wardle (UK) and Anuar Zaini (Malaysia).
An excellent scientific program made up of symposia, oral and poster presentations, as well as a workshop program and many other meetings and activities held in association with the Congress will be presented.
The tracks will include: aging, AIDS/ HIV, alcohol/ smoking/ substance abuse, asthma/ pulmonary disorders, behavioral genetics/ gene-environment interactions, cancer, cardiovascular disease, childhood & adolescence, chronic fatigue/ somatoform disorders, diabetes/ metabolism/ nutrition/ obesity, gastrointestinal/ dermatological/ psychophysiological disorders, gender/ women's health, health behaviors, health education, promotion, health systems, policy and economics, illness affect/ illness behavior, pain, musculoskeletal & neuromuscular disorders, physical activity, quality of life, screening & early detection, socioeconomic factors, stress/ psychophysiology/ pni, violence/ victimization/ ptsd, work related health.
Researchers and clinicians are encouraged to support this conference and attend.Jointly organized by the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM) and the German Society of Behavioral Medicine and Behavior Modification (DGVM), the congress promises to be a most stimulating and enlightening event.
For further information, visit www.icbm-2004.de or email info@icbm-2004.de
Wolfgang Hiller
Chair, Local Organizing Committee
University of Mainz, Germany
Tel: ++ 6131 - 3922344
The Ninth International Congress, in Bangkok, Thailand, 2006
The GC accepted with enthusiasm and gratitude Bangkok as the site for the 9 th congress for 2006. Dates are not set, but it seems likely that the best time to visit Thailand would be in November/December.
The Tenth International Congress
The Japanese Society of Behavioral Medicine has stated its interest in organizing our 10 th Congress, in 2008. No decisions have been made, but the GC expressed gratitude for the interest and effort. This would mean that the two next congresses would be in Asia. Several GC members expressed satisfaction with what seems to be a rapid expansion into a part of the world which is expanding rapidly, also in our fields, and which represents more than half the population of the world.
Brian Oldenburg has visited the planned site for the satellite meeting in Budapest, and discussed with the local organizers the details of the planned meeting. As a result of those discussions, the the meeting details have been updated as follows:
Satellite Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, August 29-31, 2004
Satellite of the Eighth International Congress of Behavioral Medicine
(Mainz, Germany, August 25-28, 2004)
"The role of behavioural medicine in understanding and preventing the mortality and morbidity challenges occurring in Central and Eastern European countries"
- The aim of the forum will be to facilitate the meeting of researchers, clinicians and health policy professionals from Hungary and other Central/Eastern European countries with behavioural medicine researchers from other countries.
- The purpose of the meeting will be to provide a forum for improved understanding of health trends in this important region of Europe and to examine how behavioural medicine research and practice can be used to address these health challenges in the future.
- It is expected that relevant researchers from European or other countries will attend this satellite meeting immediately following the International Congress in Mainz, Germany.
- The Forum will include a small number of keynote presentations as well as panel discussions, small group discussions and submitted poster presentations. There will also be a couple of introductory workshops offered for research students and health professionals from the region.
- The venue for the Satellite Meeting will be the Central Building of the Semmelweis University, situated in the centre of Budapest, which is the beautiful historical capital of Hungary.
- The main organizers will be the Institute of Behavioral Sciences at Semmelweis University and the "Hans Selye" Hungarian Society of Behavioral Sciences and Medicine.
- The Program Chair will be Prof. Maria Kopp, CoChair Prof. Brian Oldenburg, Chair of the Local Organizing Committee Adrienne Stauder, CoChair Monika Kovacs..
- Program Schedule of Topics:
- Sunday - Introductory workshops on behavioural medicine topics
- Sunday evening - Opening of Satellite Forum
- Monday (keynotes, panel discussions, posters)
- AM - Overview of health trends in Central/Eastern European countries and societies in rapid transition
- PM - Explanations for the health trends in Central/Eastern European countries and societies in rapid transition
- Tuesday
- AM - Practical applications of behavioural medicine to topic areas - thematic discussions in small groups
- PM - Reports from small groups, meeting summary and recommendations
- Wednesday
- Post-congress tours, local meetings, etc.
Deadline for abstract submissions and workshop proposals: 1 st February 2004
Budapest Satellite program updates on the website www.selyesociety.org
To receive more information on the meeting and any other details, please contact Dr Adrienne Stauder (email: staadr@net.sote.hu)
Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACH)
Prepared by Brian Oldenburg, Regional Director, APACPH (email: b.oldenburg@qut.edu.au )
APACPH is a network of academic institutions with a mission to improve public health in the nations of Asia and the Pacific by enhancing the research, educational and training capacity of member institutions. Founded almost twenty years ago, the membership has grown to 50 institutions from 18 countries throughout the Region. APACPH's Secretariat Office is currently located at the School of Public Health at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia and there are also regional offices based in China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
APACPH achieves its mission through student and faculty exchanges, collaborative research projects, curriculum development, interactions with government and non-government agencies, and the publication of its journal, the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. APACPH's Annual Conference attracts attendees from member institutions as well as other researchers, academics and health policy professionals from around the Region.
Collaboration is the key to achieving APACPH's mission and the organisation encourages partnerships between faculty from member institutions and links with other scientific and professional organisations, government agencies and funding bodies. The recent outbreak of SARS provides an excellent example of the importance of collaboration in combating regional and global health problems. The forthcoming APACPH conference in Shanghai in October includes a special session on SARS which will bring together experts and faculty from around the Region to discuss the public health, clinical and research aspects of tackling emerging infectious diseases like SARS. Lessons learnt will inform professional health workers on the best methods for management of future infectious disease outbreaks.
For more information on all aspects of APACPH, including its journal and annual conferences, visit our website: www.apacph.org or contact Sonja Firth from the APACPH Secretariat at sonja@apacph.org.
News from the editor of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to inform you that most of the national societies of ISBM, representing more than 3500 members, have responded positively to the proposed electronic subscription to IJBM. Several societies will, in addition, subscribe to the printed version.
This means that the annual electronic subscription cost can be set as low as five US dollar. The national societies will soon be approached in order to provide lists of names of their members to which the codes for individual access to the electronic version of IJBM can be sent.
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Further good news are that the Publisher, Lawrence Erlbaum Ass., has agreed to increase the format size of IJBM from 6 x 9 to an 8.5 x 11 format and 288 pages per year from 2004. This will decrease the time between acceptance and publication of papers. The reason for this increase in format size is the increase in the number of submissions to IJBM and the possibility of a more attractive layout.
I am also pleased to inform you that the impact factor of IJBM for 2002 has increased to 0.911. As the decision to include IJBM on Medline/Index Medicus was made late last year, I think that we can expect a further increase of the impact factor for 2003. |
Cordially, Ulf Lundberg, Editor IJBM
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