From the Editor’s Desk
Aric A. Prather, PhD
SBSM Newsletter Editor
With 2018 in full swing and the Winter months starting their downward descent into Spring, I am pleased to offer up to you the most recent addition of the SBSM Newsletter. As it happens, this is my last Newsletter as your Editor (where has the time gone!?), so I am extra excited to share with you the content. First, I am thrilled to include another column from our esteemed President, Dr. Suzanne Segerstrom. I am indebted to all of the SBSM Presidents who have been so very generous with their time in preparing high caliber columns during my tenure as Editor. In these particularly trying times, I have found the messages of our Presidents thoughtful voices of hope and resolve. In this issue you will also find our traditional “Getting to Know” section. This time I was honored to chat with the incomparable Dr. Karina Davidson from Columbia University Medical Center who provide a candid and poignant perspective on her career and what matters in academia. Please check it out.
The annual meeting is right around the corner. Can you believe it? Are you ready? Many of you will be giving talks or presenting posters, but all of you are in store for an incredible program. Many thanks again to Dr. Sarah Pressman for her strong leadership in shaping this year’s program. From the looks of it, it will be an enlightening, scholarly extravaganza. It will also be the culmination of a yearlong celebration of 75 years of APS. There will be lots of opportunities to be a part of history throughout the meeting as well as learn, in impressive detail, history making moments for SBSM and the field of Psychosomatic Medicine. What do I mean? Read on and you will find an engaging contribution from Drs. Rebecca Reed and Johanna Czamanski-Cohen about what is in store at the meeting and a historical perspective.
SBSM has always been a special place for early stage scientists like graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Personally, I can only speak for the years 2003 and onward but I dare say that mentoring and fostering the next cohort of biobehavioral scientists is strongly engrained in the SBSM ethos. With that in mind, I am grateful to two outstanding trainees who serve on the SBSM program committee, Marie Cross and Ian Boggero, who provide a personal take on what you can get out of the meeting and what they are most excited for you to see. If you haven’t yet booked your ticket to Louisville, KY, there is still time!
It has been an honor to serve as the Newsletter Editor over the past 3 years. But I leave you in very capable hands. Dr. Annie Ginty, from Baylor University and SBSM regular, has agreed to take over the helm. I have no doubt that she will continue to improve upon the Newsletter, which serves as a stalwart medium for connecting our membership. Please see the special “Getting to know the new editor” section to learn more about Dr. Ginty.
Thank you to all who have taken the time to read this newsletter over the years. I continue to be impressed by the strong work of Degnon Associates and, in particular, Sarah Shiffert, and Psychosomatic Medicine’s Vicki White who have both been invaluable to ensuring the timely publication of this Newsletter. I would also be remiss if I didn’t formally thank the many contributors over the years, including all who participated in the “Meet the Lab” and “Getting to Know” sections. Moreover, I want to thank Dr. Wijo Kop for providing such thorough summaries of the Journal. In this regard, please be sure to see what Dr. Kop has to say in this issue. Any comments about this Newsletter, feel free to reach out (aric.prather@ucsf.edu). Ideas for topics we should cover? Please contact Dr. Annie Ginty (annie_ginty@baylor.edu).