From the Editor’s Desk
Aric A. Prather, PhD
SBSM Newsletter Editor
What can I say? It was another amazing conference this past March in Denver. Another big thanks to Dr. Lorenzo Cohen and the program committee for filling the scientific program with a diverse line-up of presentations from SBSM regulars and all-stars from outside our membership. Personally, I was blown away by Dr. Kevin Tracey’s presentation on his seminal research around the inflammatory reflex and all of the innovations that have developed since its discovery. Drs. Dean Ornish and Lisa Marsch also contributed engaging plenary talks that reverberated throughout the course of the meeting. And of course while in Denver, why not have a discussion about the benefits and consequences of cannabis use. Some of you out there carried out some me-search on the topic (you know who you are). Ok, and the banquet was awesome, with what I think was one of the best bands in many years. It was a wonderful event to bring together old friends and new. With that I want to provide one more note of congratulations to our award winners, namely Dr. Redford Williams who received the Distinguished Scientist Award, Dr. Emeran Mayer who was awarded the Paul D. McLean Award, Dr. Elizabeth Brondolo who received the Patricia R. Barchas Award in Sociophyisology, and Dr. George Slavich who received the Herbert Weiner Early Career Award. A photo recap of the annual meeting can be found later in this issue.
With roughly 10 months until our next meeting in Seville, Spain there is quite a bit on the SBSM horizon, as is highlighted by a message from our new SBSM president Dr. Christoph Herrmann-Lingen. For example, the mid-year meeting in New York on the Neuroscience of Pain is October 15th and poster submissions will be accepted until July 1st. In this newsletter we continue with our series of “Getting to know…” a member of our Society, this time focusing our attention on Dr. Elizabeth Brondolo. We also have a great “Meet the Lab” entry from our first but certainly not last international laboratory. Our Editor-in-Chief of our Journal, Dr. Wijo Kop, provides us with his favorite articles and “must reads” available in Psychosomatic Medicine over the last several months. Finally, we have an engaging commentary from Emily Hooker, a doctoral student from the University of California, Irvine, on the topic of replication in psychosomatic medicine. Emily spearheaded a roundtable on this very topic at the annual meeting, and given the rising interest in replicability across scientific disciplines, I sincerely appreciate her contribution. If you have any other topics you feel worthy of a commentary, please contact me directly.
Questions or comments? Please email me at (aric.prather@ucsf.edu).