Outlook | Newsletter of the Society of Behavioral Medicine

Board Notes: Meet the SBM Member Delegates and an Update on Society Governance

Elliot J. Coups, PhD, Board of Directors member delegate

Meet the Member Delegates

In addition to representatives from the society's many councils and committees, the SBM Board of Directors includes three member delegates. Each member delegate is elected by the membership and serves a three-year term on the board and on the society's seven-member Executive Committee (along with the president, president-elect, past-president, and secretary/treasurer). Member delegates play an active role in a host of SBM initiatives. Meet your SBM member delegates below and please reach out to them with any questions or comments regarding the society:

Monica L. Baskin, PhD (member delegate 2015-2018), is professor of preventive medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. Dr. Baskin's research interests include developing and testing culturally relevant behavioral interventions for cancer prevention and control and obesity prevention and treatment. Prior to becoming a member delegate, she was chair of the society's Membership Council. As member delegate, Dr. Baskin has been a member of the Membership Council, the Nominating Committee, and the Leadership Institute Working Group.

Elliot J. Coups, PhD (member delegate 2014-2017), is associate professor of medicine at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University. Dr. Coups' research focuses on behavioral aspects of cancer prevention and control, with a primary focus on skin cancer. He served as chair of the Program Committee for the 2014 SBM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Coups' activities as member delegate have included serving as a member of the Leadership Institute Working Group and coordinating the society's application for National Institutes of Health R13 grants to support the 2015 and 2016 annual meetings.

Amy L. Yaroch, PhD (member delegate 2013-2016), is executive director at the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition (GSCN) and adjunct professor of health promotion, social, and behavioral health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Since 2009, Dr. Yaroch has been leading efforts in obesity prevention, food insecurity, local food systems and health, and evaluation at GSCN. At SBM and as a member delegate, Dr. Yaroch's activities have included serving on the Revenue Enhancement Committee, and on the Leadership Institute Working Group, as well as associate editor for Translational Behavioral Medicine.

An Update on Society Governance

The November 2015 Board Meeting was the first at which new templates were utilized for all board reports presented by the many councils, committees, sub-committees, ad hoc groups, and members of the Executive Committee. The new templates arose from the invaluable work of SBM's Governance Working Group, ably led by Sara Knight, PhD. Included in the templates are sections for background information, aims/goals/activities, resource needs, products/outcomes/accomplishments, and any proposed motions to bring before the board. The new templates were very well-received and served not only as a valuable reporting tool but also as an opportunity to evaluate accomplishments and plan future activities.

The report presented by Rajani S. Sadasivam, PhD, on behalf of the Web and Social Media Team nicely illustrates the utility of the reports. The report outlined the many ongoing initiatives to promote the society's digital presence, including via the SBM website, SBMConnect blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Successes were also outlined, including an increase in SBM's social media presence at the 2015 Annual Meeting (with 2,115 tweets using the #SBM2015 hashtag that reached 4.7 million accounts) compared to the 2014 meeting (1,215 tweets using the #SBM2014 hashtag that reached 1.6 million accounts).

Additionally, in response to the increasing number of people who are accessing the SBM website from mobile devices, the report outlined a need for resources to upgrade the website to use a responsive design. This request was approved and the necessary changes to the website have been implemented. This means that the SBM website can now be easily viewed and navigated across all devices. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the SBM website on your mobile device!


Winter 2016	Return to Outlook main page »
Board Notes: Meet the SBM Member Delegates and an Update on Society Governance Elliot J. Coups, PhD, Board of Directors member delegate Meet the Member Delegates In addition to representatives from the society's many councils and committees, the SBM Board of Directors includes three member delegates. Each member delegate is elected by the membership and serves a three-year term on the board and on the society's seven-member Executive Committee (along with the president, president-elect, past-president, and secretary/treasurer). Member delegates play an active role in a host of SBM initiatives. Meet your SBM member delegates below and please reach out to them with any questions or comments regarding the society: Monica L. Baskin, PhD (member delegate 2015-2018), is professor of preventive medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. Dr. Baskin's research interests include developing and testing culturally relevant behavioral interventions for cancer prevention and control and obesity prevention and treatment. Prior to becoming a member delegate, she was chair of the society's Membership Council. As member delegate, Dr. Baskin has been a member of the Membership Council, the Nominating Committee, and the Leadership Institute Working Group. Elliot J. Coups, PhD (member delegate 2014-2017), is associate professor of medicine at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University. Dr. Coups' research focuses on behavioral aspects of cancer prevention and control, with a primary focus on skin cancer. He served as chair of the Program Committee for the 2014 SBM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Coups' activities as member delegate have included serving as a member of the Leadership Institute Working Group and coordinating the society's application for National Institutes of Health R13 grants to support the 2015 and 2016 annual meetings. Amy L. Yaroch, PhD (member delegate 2013-2016), is executive director at the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition (GSCN) and adjunct professor of health promotion, social, and behavioral health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Since 2009, Dr. Yaroch has been leading efforts in obesity prevention, food insecurity, local food systems and health, and evaluation at GSCN. At SBM and as a member delegate, Dr. Yaroch's activities have included serving on the Revenue Enhancement Committee, and on the Leadership Institute Working Group, as well as associate editor for Translational Behavioral Medicine. An Update on Society Governance The November 2015 Board Meeting was the first at which new templates were utilized for all board reports presented by the many councils, committees, sub-committees, ad hoc groups, and members of the Executive Committee. The new templates arose from the invaluable work of SBM's Governance Working Group, ably led by Sara Knight, PhD. Included in the templates are sections for background information, aims/goals/activities, resource needs, products/outcomes/accomplishments, and any proposed motions to bring before the board. The new templates were very well-received and served not only as a valuable reporting tool but also as an opportunity to evaluate accomplishments and plan future activities. The report presented by Rajani S. Sadasivam, PhD, on behalf of the Web and Social Media Team nicely illustrates the utility of the reports. The report outlined the many ongoing initiatives to promote the society's digital presence, including via the SBM website, SBMConnect blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Successes were also outlined, including an increase in SBM's social media presence at the 2015 Annual Meeting (with 2,115 tweets using the #SBM2015 hashtag that reached 4.7 million accounts) compared to the 2014 meeting (1,215 tweets using the #SBM2014 hashtag that reached 1.6 million accounts). Additionally, in response to the increasing number of people who are accessing the SBM website from mobile devices, the report outlined a need for resources to upgrade the website to use a responsive design. This request was approved and the necessary changes to the website have been implemented. This means that the SBM website can now be easily viewed and navigated across all devices. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the SBM website on your mobile device!