Summer 2025

Editor's Note

How do we adapt in times of challenge? In this issue of Outlook, this question is explored in the President's note, a piece from the Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine SIG, and a joint article from the Health Equity and Student SIGs.

In the Face of Change: How Public Health Experts Are Navigating Career and Funding Uncertainty

The public health workforce is facing a period of uncertainty, shaped by evolving funding landscapes and ongoing administrative shifts. We had the pleasure of interviewing six individuals ranging from early career investigators to experienced leaders on recent shifts in the field and strategies for moving forward in uncertain times. We hope you enjoy this snapshot of their thoughtful, candid reflections.

Advocating for Integration: Telling the Story

Imagine your favorite documentary, podcast, or nonfiction book, particularly one that changed your perception. What do you recall? Were you convinced by the numbers, the quality of the methodology, or generalizability?

Household Chaos: How and Why Disruptions at Home Derail Healthy Habits

Health behaviors, such as physical activity, are influenced by a multitude of factors, ranging from big-picture policies to individual choices. Most behavior change programs focus on large-scale influences or personal motivations, often overlooking the role of family and home life. This article explores how household chaos—unpredictable routines, noise, and crowding—can affect health behavior and provides future directions for multi-level research and promotion efforts.

Speaking Up for Science: SBM Trains Members to Combat Misinformation

Our rapidly deteriorating and fragmented media and information environment makes communicating science very challenging. Funding cuts have affected all of us, important data collection initiatives have been terminated, and on the highest political level science is misrepresented to the public. As experts in behavioral science, we need to defend our science and stand up against misinformation and misrepresentation of our work.

Weathering the Storm: Student/Trainee Perspectives on Funding Cuts and the Future of Behavioral Medicine

The field of behavioral medicine is currently navigating turbulent waters. Recent federal budget cuts, including a proposed 40% reduction in NIH funding under the current presidential administration have sent shock-waves through the research landscape. These changes reflect a trend of rising uncertainty around research priorities and funding stability, creating a storm that affects not only experienced researchers but also students, trainees, and early-career professionals.

Where Science Meets Policy: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Policy Reform

Science and policy are two distinct disciplines; however, they can be combined to benefit society as a whole. As a graduate research scientist and policy ambassador, I have successfully integrated the two to improve health outcomes for residents of Birmingham, Alabama.

Expert Eyes on the Black Box: Guiding Generative AI for Effective Behavior Change Intervention Design

The era of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to design behavior change interventions is upon us. GenAI refers to a class of machine learning models that can create new text or images based on data used to train the models.

An 8-Step Primer for Students and Post-Docs to Develop Contextual and Impactful Mentorship of Others

Undergraduate and other research assistants play key roles in the academe as “a continuum of knowledge production, from knowledge new to the learner to knowledge new to humankind” (R Willison & M O’Regan, 2007). The responsibility of mentoring undergraduate and other research assistants often falls to graduate students, post-docs, and early career researchers.

Research Funding Opportunities within the Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Research & Development (ORD) has a longstanding program of research integrated into the VA health care system. The exclusive focus of VA research is to improve the overall health and well-being of Veterans and translate research findings into innovative and effective care for Veterans. VA ORD is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year! Given this, we thought this article could serve as an opportunity to share some general information about VA research funding.

Pain Coach: A New App for Chronic Pain Management

Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent, costly, and debilitating conditions in the United States. Given the myriad potential barriers patients face when seeking treatment for chronic pain (e.g., economic burdens, lack of transportation, childcare concerns, shortage of specialists), mobile apps show great promise for improving access to evidence-based chronic pain management tools.