Dear ISBM Members,

I am so happy to present to you the new issue of our Newsletter! Switzerland gets surprisingly hot in June, July, and August, and those of us who are not lucky enough to be able to escape to the Alps every other weekend or spend time at a lake often find themselves in rather unpleasant scenarios even inside, as air conditioning is not very popular in this country. My colleague who is originally from Brazil insists that this is because Swiss people conceptualise their country as a “winter country” and are simply ill-equipped for any other season. While I find the idea of this country being ill-prepared highly intriguing, I am also secretly hoping that the real reason might be eco-consciousness, although, admittedly, I have yet to find data to support this hypothesis.

The last Newsletter has already focused on topics surrounding eco-consciousness, and in particular on the global challenge that is climate change. This issue will continue in this spirit and, in doing so, give you a pre-taste of our upcoming International Congress of Behavioral Medicine (ICBM) in Vancouver, which uses the motto “From local to global: behavior, climate, and health”. However, first, our President, Anne Berman, will take us back on a journey through the last two years of her presidency in her last President letter. Dear Anne, even though your term has not ended yet, I would like to thank you already for your superb (open, transparent, inclusive, …) leadership! I am so happy that we will all get together in person at the ICBM 2023 for a proper goodbye (and welcoming to your new role as Past President) when you pass the torch to Kerry Sherman.

The ICBM 2023 will not only see the inauguration of the new ISBM President and committee Chairs (more about this in the next issue), but will also present with many exciting new formats. Michael Diefenbach and Ryan Rhodes together with Anne Berman, the Local Organising Committee and the Scientific Programme Committee have put together a stellar programme. Too many are the highlights to list, but I recommend you to read the great introduction to the conference by Michael, Ryan, and Anne, which will certainly whet your appetite. For more information on ICBM activities around our beloved journal, the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (IJBM), I recommend to read Michael Hoyt’s Editorial letter; for more information on our Early Career Researcher Network INSPIRE, chaired by Briony Hill, go to page 16; and for important news from our Finance Committee, make sure to read Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin’s latest financial update. All these people have made and continue to make important contributions to our society, such as launching new publication award programmes, organising webinars for early career researchers, and making sure our society remains financially healthy.

As mentioned before, the conference theme is behaviour, climate, and health, which is also heavily reflected in the ICBM 2023 keynotes. It is with great pride that I can announce a sneak preview of what Renee Salas, our first keynote speaker, will present in Vancouver on Wednesday evening. Even though I have had the pleasure of interviewing Renee when we were still wearing jumpers, her words on environmental drivers of disease have stuck with me ever since. I personally cannot think of a better example for a mission-driven scientist/practitioner and am certain that her ideas on how behavioural medicine can contribute to mitigate climate change will also resonate with many of you. Likewise, I would like to draw your attention to the many inspirational statements on the same topic by our Member societies. This time, Jürgen Knieling from Germany and Bernard Fuemmeler, Peter Gianaros, Ian Kronish, and Barbara Ward-Zimmerman from the US have provided an overview of their societies’ initiatives and actions regarding climate change, which I cannot urge you enough to read.

Even though I am conflicted about flying all the way from Zurich to Vancouver, I am eager to see everyone again in person. For many people, the ICBM 2023 will be the first get-together in five years, so I have no doubt the place will brim with joy and will see the conception of many exciting scientific ideas and collaborative projects. Until we meet, I wish all of you a lovely mid-year break!

Suzanne Fischer, PhD

Editor of the ISBM Newsletter

Dear friends and colleagues in Behavioral Medicine!

This is my last letter to you in my role as President and I want to express some thoughts regarding my experience as ISBM president, including a few highlights from topics I have addressed in my past letters, some achievements during my term, strategic planning for ISBM, and a look ahead.

It is with some sadness that I write to you now. It is a huge privilege and honor to serve as President of ISBM, and I deeply appreciate the opportunity that our Newsletter provides to reach all individual ISBM members through your local societies. One of the most rewarding activities, among the many tasks that fall to the ISBM President, is to write this letter every 6 months. I enjoy envisaging everyone reading the letter, and I have been inspired by some leaders whose regular letters I have read.

For example, last week I received the letter that the President of Uppsala University, Professor Anders Hagfeldt, an internationally highly cited researcher in sustainable energy, writes to the faculty and staff every 6 months. His message this summer is that even if “the work never ends, it is important to have a change of scene and take a break. A walk in the sun, a day at the beach, an afternoon with friends can be surprisingly effective ways to recharge your batteries.” He adds that “perhaps summer is after all the time when research breakthroughs, organizational solutions and smart educational ideas are most likely to come….When things calm down, everything falls into place.” I appreciate these words, that we need to keep at the top of our minds to ensure that successful balancing of work and life, with alternating excitement and relaxation and alternation of sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous system activation, can help us realize our full potential physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially.

Although I will miss writing to you all in this role, I am happy that ISBM has such a well-designed organizational structure, where a fully competent President-Elect is waiting in the wings to take over once the current President’s term is over. So, before I pass the torch to Professor Kerry Sherman, here is a snapshot of where I am at the end of my term.

Highlights from the past two years

Some topics I have found relevant to write to you about include the following:

• Political leadership, particularly highlighting Magdalena Anderson, who became Sweden’s first female prime minister in November 2021, after seven years as Finance Minister. Anderson stepped down from her position as prime minister in October 2022, following the September 2022 national election in Sweden. She remains the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Sweden and continues as a member of the Swedish parliament.
  
  
• The Nobel prize, where I was impressed by the Economics Prize from 2021, awarded for work on causal inference from unintended, natural experiments. The research behind the prize showed that raising minimum wages does not necessarily lead to fewer jobs, that new immigration can benefit the income of those born in a country although those who immigrated earlier can experience negative consequences, and that school resources make a positive difference in student outcomes. In 2022, I was struck by the Chemistry prize, won by Carolyn Bertozzi, together with Morton Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless. Most importantly, they contributed to the development of pharmaceuticals used in personalized medicine. I also appreciated Carolyn Bertozzi’s acknowledgement, with due humility, of the contributions of doctoral students, post-doctoral students, and all others who are responsible for research team success. Her brief speech elicited applause from the 1,300 people attending the Nobel dinner, in honor of all who contribute to research work.
  
  
• Sustainability issues, where Rae et al (2022) summarized how researchers can increase sustainability in everyday academic activities. Although one point is that we should fly less, the authors acknowledge that “many of us crave…in-person social interaction, scientific debate, and collaboration”, something we can finally experience together later this summer.

ISBM achievements 2021-23

I began my term as President at ICBM 2021, the “Glasgow” conference, which was transformed into a virtual event of high quality and scientific interest. Then came a long, period of global uncertainty as the pandemic continued to rage with new mutations, and vaccines were quickly adapted. Meanwhile, we were planning ICBM 2023, not knowing whether it would be virtual, hybrid or completely in-person. As I write, we are less than two months away from our first in-person conference in five years.

During this time, together with the ISBM Executive Committee, Committee chairs and other Board members, and GC members, we have met several important goals. All these developments build, of course, on the solid foundation prepared by the initiators of ISBM and their successors.

My term has included the signing of several significant contracts between ISBM and:

• ICS, our financial management company
• Bank of America
• Springer, publisher of our flagship journal, the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
• Venue West, our conference organizer for ICBM 2023, as well as the related hotel venue contract
• ICS as conference organizer for ICBM 2025

I have had strategic liaison meetings with:

• The American Psychosomatic Society (APS)
• American Psychological Association Division 38, Health Psychology
• The Society for Behavioral Medicine (SBM; US), including on-site board member meetings at SBM meetings
• Organizers of the World Health Forum at Tsinghua University, where our President-Elect Kerry Sherman spoke on behalf of ISBM
• The European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine (EAPM), which invited ISBM to participate in a panel on “Putting the Psyche into Medical Care – a Global Perspective” at the EAPM conference in Wroclaw, June 2023. Joost Dekker, former ISBM Past President, represented ISBM at the panel.

Also, my proposal of introducing Invited Symposia has been met with enthusiasm and we have been able to arrange for five highly promising Invited Symposia at ICBM 2023 from the following groups or organizations:

• Howard Leventhal, Rutgers University and colleagues
• International Behavioural Trials Network (IBTN)
• International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol & Other Drugs (INEBRIA)
• Behavioral Medicine Journal Editors (panel)
• The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine Section.

We also extended invitations to the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) and World Health Organization (WHO). Although these did not lead to symposia this time around, hopefully they will in the future.

Finally, we had an in-person, hybrid “retreat” for board members who came to Uppsala in June 2022, concluding with a one-day symposium on behavioral medicine, with all recordings still available at https://tinyurl.com/June17rec.

Strategic planning

An ongoing activity for ISBM is strategic planning. We have benefitted greatly from Bernd Leplow’s expertise as Strategic Planning Chair, as well as Joost Dekker’s leadership of the ISBM task force that defined our strategic goals as:

• Increasing education and training activities
• Becoming and remaining financially healthy
• Increasing translation and application of behavioral medicine research into clinical practice
• Helping member societies thrive, and
• Better defining what behavioral medicine is and is not.

At our strategic planning meetings, we formulated goals that we have a) made significant progress on; b) discussed actively at ensuing Board meetings; or c) made less progress on.

Goals we have made progress on are:

• Establishing Special Interest Groups (SIGs): the first SIG has been established on Somatic Symptom Disorders, led by Maria Kleinstäuber.
• Initiating Invited Symposia at ICBMs: this has been put in motion, starting with ICBM 2023, led by myself.
• Soliciting a bid for ICBM 2025, including a site visit in February 2023 by the Ex-ecutive Committee
• Inviting state-of-the art workshops to ICBM 2023

Goals we have discussed actively:

• Defining a motto/tagline, e.g., Better health through behavior change, Behavioral science of health and medicine, Transcending global boundaries via biology and behavior for health
• Establishing individual membership in ISBM for persons in countries without a behavioral medicine society

Goals we have made less progress on:

• Activating existing societies that have become silent
• Supporting new emerging societies

A look ahead

As I conclude my term as President, I see ISBM as a financially healthy global society, offering education and training activities at our congresses, via pre-congress workshops, at webinars held by the INSPIRE network, through international hybrid symposia and local scientific meetings, and by reaching out through invited symposia to organizations and societies with whom we share common scientific and clinical goals and values.

In the future, we need to think creatively about local networking to encourage dialogue and collaboration, continue to reach out to our existing societies that are thriving, as well as the few that have gone silent, and think about how to effectively communicate our vital message of the importance of behavior for health at all levels of prevention to stakeholders at all levels.

Finally, I want to, again, convey my deep thanks to the ISBM Executive Committee, Board officers and committee chairs, and General Council leaders and local members of ISBM societies around the world. Your inspired engagement and efforts to improve science and clinical practice in behavioral medicine are the main motivating force behind ISBM’s continued vigor as an international society.

Warm wishes,

Anne H. Berman

President of the ISBM

Dear ISBM Members,

It is an exciting time for the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (IJBM)! As we prepare to convene in Vancouver, I am reflective about the many new things on the horizon for IJBM. I look forward to the opportunities to interact with our inspiring scientific community at the Congress both formally and informally. In fact, I invite all attendees to join us at the IJBM-organized session, “Reporting our Science: A Panel Session with Editors of Behavioral Medicine Journals” on Friday, Aug 25, 2023 (12:00 PM - 1:30 PM). In addition to IJBM, we have called together editors from Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Stress & Health, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Behavioral Medicine, Psychology & Health, Health Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine to talk about publishing in behavioral medicine journals, the unique qualities of the various journals, and the use of open science practices. This should prove to be an exciting and informative session.

While in Vancouver, IJBM is also extremely excited to present the 2021 and 2022 Springer Awards for Excellence in Publication in Behavioral Medicine. This annual award begun in 2019 and sponsored by our publishing partner, Springer Nature, acknowledges excellence behavioral medicine research published in IJBM. In addition, we will debut a new category of awards at this year’s Congress, the IJBM Regional Awards for Excellence in Publication in Behavioral Medicine. These include an awardee each from Asia, Australia, North America, South America, and Europe. Stay tuned for the announcement of this year’s panel of awardees.

The next year will also bring the release of two special issues, both that are well underway. The number of submissions to our first special issue, “Social Isolation and Loneliness in Acute and Chronic Illness” (Special Issue Editors: Allison Marziliano and Michael Diefenbach) far exceeded our expectations. The pandemic ignited increased interest in the study of social isolation and loneliness, and we are thrilled to be compiling such a high-quality issue for IJBM. The second, “Advancing the Science of Behavioral Medicine: Meta-Analyses and Foundational Reviews” (Special Issue Editors: Chun-Qing Zhang, Ren Liu, Michael Hoyt) leverages the 30-year anniversary of IJBM to focus on synthesizing the scientific study of key areas in the field.

Finally, and with many mixed emotions, we have announced the call for a new IJBM Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall management of the journal and is responsible for all editorial text that appears in the journal. The editorship is a five-year term and is confirmed by the concurrence of the ISBM Board, current Editor-in-Chief, and with approval of the ISBM Governing Council. Applications should include a brief letter of application, a curriculum vitae, a statement of your conception of the journal (e.g., the kinds of articles you would like to see published, the kinds of innovations you would want to introduce, thoughts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion among associate editors/editorial board staffing and the science relevant to the journal), and a letter of support from your institution. Applications are due via email to IJBMed@uci.edu by November 1, 2023, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

There is much happening at IJBM! I am thrilled that I get to continually contribute, promote the sound science of Behavioral Medicine, and take part in this tremendous professional community.

And, as always, don't forget to join us on Twitter at @IJBMed!

Michael A. Hoyt

Editor in Chief

International Journal of Behavioral Medicine

Dear Colleagues,

By the time you are reading this, the 17th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, to be held in Vancouver, Canada, will be a month away. My colleagues, Ryan E Rhodes, PhD, Local Committee Chair, Anne H. Berman, PhD, President of ISBM, and myself as Scientific Program Chair, extend our heartfelt welcome to you. We have chosen our conference theme, “From Local to Global: Behavior, Climate and Health” with Vancouver in mind. Vancouver, one of the most international, modern, and diverse cities in North America, has managed to preserve and honor its local roots and unique sense of place, while simultaneously be a city of the world. When we planned our conference theme almost two years ago, we did not anticipate how opportune our theme would be in our present time. Local actions reverberate across the globe and local climate events affect the entire continent. To address future health and climate challenges our behavioral science community must connect and combine our “local” research to obtain wide-reaching, global impact. Our meeting was designed with this goal in mind, and we hope that our Keynote and Master lectures provide inspiration and move you to action. We have asked our invited speakers to incorporate our theme into their presentations and I am sure they will meet this challenge.

Thursday, August 24th starts with an early career mentoring breakfast and early career awards. Our first keynote address of the day is by William Dietz, MD, PhD, who will present his research and advocacy to address the “Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change.” Dr. Dietz is the Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance and heads the Sumner Redstone Global Center on Prevention and Wellness at George Washington University. After a morning of symposia and posters, I would also like to point your attention to the invited Leventhal Honorary Self-Regulation Symposium, organized to honor Howard Leventhal, PhD. The symposium was designed to provide an overview of the latest research efforts using the self-regulation framework.

The afternoon sessions commence with two Master Lectures focusing on mental health and quality of life. The first one is by Dixon Chibanda, PhD, who has revolutionized mental health treatment in Africa through the novel and innovative Friendship Bench. His approach is a perfect example of how local efforts can have wide-ranging impact. The second Master lecture is by Christiane Hoppmann, PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Dr. Hoppmann will present on social relationship dynamics and health in old age, using data generated from daily assessments. We continue the day with breakout sessions and a second invited symposium organized by ISBM and IBTN (International Behavioral Trials Network). The talks in this symposium focus on the ORBIT model for intervention development, a cutting edge approach for iterative design and evaluation.

Friday, August 25, begins with the ISBM Award ceremony and our third keynote, delivered by Tim Stockwell, PhD, from the University of Victoria. Dr. Stockwell is Professor of Psychology at the University of Victoria, Canada, and an international expert on alcohol substance abuse. His presentation will reflect on his decades-long experiences in alcohol research, prevention, and policy. The focus on alcohol and health is continued with an invited joint symposium between ISBM and INEBRIA. The presentations in this symposium will focus on the history and activities of the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol and other Drugs. This is a great opportunity for ISBM members to learn more about INEBRIA and how to conduct research within this international network or scientists.

The afternoon sessions will start with a panel session of editors of Behavioral Medicine Journals. Be prepared to learn about open science practices, equity in publishing and the do’s and don’ts of article writing. These presentations will be followed by two Master Lectures. The first, by Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH, Senior Principal Scientist at the American Cancer Society, will continue the focus on climate change as she will present on “Climate-driven Challenges in Healthcare Delivery.” Healthcare delivery is also the focus of the second Master Lecture, given by Josee Savard, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Universite Laval, Quebec. Dr. Savard will discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing psychological interventions for insomnia into routine cancer care. Dr. Savard is an international leader in the study of cancer-related insomnia and a fellow of the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. The day continues with a joint ISBM-CHPA (Canadian Health Psychology Association) symposium on the next generation of behavioral medicine researchers in Canada. Be sure to attend and support the future of behavioral medicine. The day concludes with a beloved tradition: the Congress Dinner. Come to socialize and to dine with friends and colleagues. This is a ticketed event which has regularly sold out. Make sure you have made your reservation.

We will start the final day of our congress, Saturday, August 26, with a keynote address by Emily Holmes, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden. Dr. Holmes presentation focuses on “Enhancing mental health after trauma,” discussing challenges and advances in this field. Her trauma related work is particularly important considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health impact of catastrophic climate events. Saturday also features the final invited symposium of the congress, focusing on participatory systems mapping in health behavior research. Systems mapping approaches are increasingly used to ensure that research and practice are grounded in the multiple perspectives of systems’ stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, practitioners, or service users). This approach is particularly useful for all behavioral medicine researchers who want to see their research implemented across various settings. The day concludes with breakout sessions, and poster viewing. Please join us for the closing ceremony and for Farewell Drinks during which the next congress location will be revealed!

The local committee is also excited to welcome you to Vancouver! We have planned activities throughout the duration of the congress and will provide you with detailed information upon your arrival so that you can make the most of your time while visiting the west coast of Canada. Every morning we will be organizing early physical activity sessions to energize you for the day ahead. As a day of meetings can be long and marked by considerable sedentary behavior, we will be facilitating short move sessions across the program. In addition, we have asked the hotel to provide us with high-top tables for all meeting rooms, which will allow you to stand while listening to talks. To get you outside the congress hotel, we have planned a Friday afternoon city walk to English Bay beach. The walk will lead through two historical downtown districts and will allow you to appreciate the natural beauty surrounding the city. Finally, we hope you take advantage of what this dynamic, international city has to offer. We are looking forward to providing you with detailed information to plan your own Vancouver adventure, including arts and entertainment, dining and pre or post conference excursions.

We hope our overview has awakened your curiosity and excitement about the upcoming congress. It promises to be an intellectually stimulating gathering with lots of opportunities for learning, networking, and socializing. If you have not made your travel arrangements yet, hurry up, Vancouver in August is a favorite travel destination.

We cannot wait to welcome you to the Congress! Safe Travels,

Michael A. Diefenbach

Scientific Program Chair

Ryan E. Rhodes

Local Committee Chair

Anne H. Berman

President, ISBM

Members of the Local Organizing Committee

Prof. Ryan E. Rhodes, University of Victoria

Prof. Simon Bacon, Concordia University

Prof. Mark R. Beauchamp, University of British Columbia

Prof. Rachel Burns, Carleton University

Prof. Kim Lavoie, University of Quebec at Montreal

Prof. Guy Faulkner, University of British Columbia

Prof. Justin Presseau, University of Ottawa

Prof. Scott M. Hofer, University of Victoria

Members of the Program Committee

Prof. Michael Diefenbach, Chair of the Program Committee

Anne H. Berman, ISBM President

Joost Dekker, ISBM Member-At-Large

Beate Ditzen, ISBM Treasurer

Maria Kleinstäuber, ISBM Secretary

Urs Nater, ISBM Past President

Judith Prins, Past Program Chair

Ryan Rhodes, Local Committee Chair

Sherri Sheinfield Gorin, ISBM Finance Committee

Kerry Sherman, ISBM President Elect

Sharon Simpson, Past Local Committee Chair

Dawn Wilson, Incoming Program Chair

INSPIRE is the early career network of the ISBM. Since 2020, our committee is chaired by Briony Hill and is continuing to witness a large influx of member from countries all over the world. INSPIRE facilitates numerous activities for early career researchers, such as the Health and Behavior International Collaborative (HBIC) Awards. Another example are the annual webinars for early career researchers, which have covered innovative topics such as health interventions and implementation science. Most importantly, INSPIRE will be present at the ICBM 2023 and host a number of fun and informative events (see link at the very bottom). Our Chair, Briony Hill, is particularly excited about the first INSPIRE Mentoring Breakfast since 2018, which is always a very popular early career event at the congress and a lovely way to connect with mentors and colleagues. We would like to use this opportunity to invite everybody to please reach out and talk to us at the ICBM 2023 in the case they are interested in becoming an INSPIRE member! Membership is free and there are numerous possibilities to become actively involved. Currently, INSPIRE are:

Please check out the ISBM website for general INSPIRE News: https://www.isbm.info/isbm-committees/inspire/

And please stay tuned for more details on our INSPIRE activities at the ICBM 2023: https://icbm2023.com/

Dear ISBM members,

The past two years have been quite active and productive for the Finance Committee. Over this time, we have strengthened our relationship with ICS, our professional management firm, that was new to our ISBM. In addition to the budget, ICS shares with our Executive Committee, as well as the Finance Committee Chair, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) reports. These KPI’s allow us to compare quarters and years with one another, enabling strong budgetary oversight. These reports and this regular process has enabled us to both effectively review and control our finances.

Recently, we have received formal tax status as a non-profit organization in the US. The process of application began years ago, with the incorporation of ISBM in the District of Colombia, obtaining a US-based bank for our international organization, and applying to the IRS. ICS facilitated the non-profit status application, with considerable feedback from our EC and the Finance Committee. The non-profit designation recognizes our status as a charitable scientific and educational organization, however, and makes us eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions from individuals and groups. And, as we are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, so all of our funds are mission-directed. Our ISBM mission is to “serve the needs of all health-related disciplines concerned with the integration of psychosocial, behavioral and biomedical sciences.” Now, those purposes are formalized in our legal tax status.

What is next? We will work with the EC, the Board, and ICS to continue to monitor and control our financial performance. Based in part on their performance as a professional management firm, ICS has also been selected as the conference manager for our next ICBM. Please await more details about this exciting conference over the next two years.

Your member society dues are an important source of funds for our ISBM, so we look forward to working with you to strengthen your local societies; we are discussing offering other ISBM membership options to expand our membership base. The forthcoming Vancouver conference is central to our scientific and financial growth, so we look forward to seeing you there!

Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin, PhD, MS, FSBM

Chair of the ISBM Finance Committee

The last issue of this Newsletter has seen the start of a two-part series on the role of behavioural medicine in the face of the global challenge that is climate change. This issue will complement the Asian and Middle European perspectives of the last issue with Western European and American reflections on potential contributions of our field to mitigate this crisis.

“The increasing toll of climate change and loss of biodiversity are not only existential threats, but ever increasing challenges to all aspects of health. These challenges are also rapidly widening global health inequalities. Many members of our Society are addressing these challenges, as supported by our Climate Change, Sustainability, and Health Special Interest Group (SIG). Our particular focus is at the intersection of climate change, environmental sustainability, and human health - with an emphasis on health equity and justice. Beyond this thematic emphasis, our Society has also moved in the direction of changing its financial investment portfolio from an environmental, social, and governance perspective and we are considering new initiatives to minimize our Society's carbon footprint. We believe that coordinated inter-organization efforts are urgently needed to make all of the professional societies falling under the umbrella of ISBM more sustainable, especially as they relate to the travel associated with our administrative and annual-meeting activities and look forward to working together to accomplish these important goals.”

“Our Society has formed a new special interest group (SIG) to help bring focus to the contribution that behavioral medicine can have on addressing the connection between climate change and health. This follows on the heels of a presidential working group focused on climate, with subsequent papers from this group published in a special section of Translational Behavioral Medicine (see here). This series provides an exceptional overview of where behavioral medicine is making an impact, and how we can move the field of climate change and health forward. What was most striking to me in reading these papers is the impact that climate change has, and will have, on communities that have been targeted for marginalization. The field of behavioral medicine has a unique opportunity, and responsibility, to leverage our science to address climate-related health inequities. Additionally, there is a need to develop the science and data that will support advocacy for policy change. I am inspired by the students in Montana who are challenging their state government to halt climate changing practices that are impacting the health of Montana citizens (see here). How can we as a field build the evidence needed to help young advocates like these make a positive change? Making a real impact in addressing climate-related health inequity will be difficult, but real solutions will come from what we do best in behavioral medicine – thinking big and build multi-disciplinary teams to discover innovative sustainable solutions. Are you up for the challenge? I’m in.”

“German Psychosomatic Medicine has been invested in the subject of climate change for many years now. In 2021, a Special Interest Group (SIG) was founded, together with other German players in Psychosomatic Medicine. The aim of this SIG is to provide continuous support along the way „from knowledge to action“. As professionals working in psychosomatic medicine and as psychotherapists, we have a special expertise regarding the different psychological reactions to the climate crisis. These can range from being anxious, depressed, and desperate on the one hand to being defensive or in denial on the other hand. Research is already being conducted on these subjects, for example investigating climate related anxiety and depression of patients in psychosomatic medicine, or developing education programs for students as well as for patients, which aim at fostering an understanding of planetary health as the basis of mental health. Furthermore, every doctor and therapist should be part of the transformation, which is necessary to happen within society in general, but also within the health care system more specifically. We should support changes in diet ("planetary health diet"), mobility (public transport, E-cars, decrease in the number of flights), energy saving and waste reduction wherever possible. And we should offer help for patients who suffer from the consequences of climate change or from the lack of action against it.”

“A growing number of our Society’s scientists are changing the direction of their science to address the impact of climate change on health. Some examples of research members are pursuing include using neighborhood-level data to examine the impact of extreme weather events on chronic disease outcomes, while evaluating the intersectionality between socioeconomic status and climate change on adverse health impacts. Others are developing interventions to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. For example, some are evaluating the effects of communication strategies that highlight the co-benefits of a plant-based diets on cardiovascular and planetary health. Finally, we are grappling with our own carbon footprints, and proposals for in-person meetings that minimize air travel and include carbon offsets are under discussion. Our society looks forward to joining forces with ISBM and other behavioral medicine organizations to collectively address the unavoidable challenges of climate change.”

“Our Society participates in a group called the Behavioral Medicine Research Council (BMRC). The BMRC brings together our Society with the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR), American Psychosomatic Society (APS), and Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) as a coalition to address priorities within the field and to advocate within broader ecosystems having a bearing on the work of the health psychology/behavioral medicine community. More information about the BMRC can be found here: www.behavioralmedicineresearchcouncil.org. Our Society, in conjunction with the other members of the BMRC, are going to issue a statement paper for the field on the important topic of climate change by the close of 2023. The statement has been written collaboratively by the four Societies noted above. The statement acknowledges the climate crisis and the disproportionate burden it brings to vulnerable communities. Furthermore, it explains the role of human behavior in the climate change process and offers a roadmap for research, clinical practice, and training the next generation of scientists to address climate.”

A list of current ISBM board members is available here.