This renewal application seeks funding for scientific presentations at the 23 , 24 , and 25 Annual Meetings of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) to be held in Baltimore (November 14-17, 2007), Chicago (November 13-15, 2008) and Atlanta (November 5-7, 2009). We will replicate the successful model used in our current NIMH-funded conference grant for the 2006 Annual Meeting. Each Meeting has a core of scientific programming of basic and clinical science addressing important traumatic stress issues. The prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) such as child maltreatment, interpersonal violence, disasters, terrorism, and war is high, and exposure to PTEs increases risk of PTSD, depression, substance use disorders and perpetration of violence. Programming at the ISTSS Annual Meetings will address barriers to better traumatic stress research and clinical practice that include: 1) fragmentation with respect to type of PTE studied; 2) lack of knowledge of traumatic stress research conducted from different perspectives (e.g., behavioral genetics, neuroscience, psychosocial, public health, biological, treatment outcome); 3) failure to consider the impact of PTEs experienced at different points in the lifespan; and 4) poor translation of research findings from traumatic stress researchers to clinical practitioners.
Specific aims are to: 1) organize meetings that engage research, practice, and policy audiences about genetic, biological, and psychosocial factors that influence traumatic stress, resilience, prevention, and treatment of trauma-related problems to encourage the development of innovative treatment and research; 2) integrate knowledge from genetic, biological, neuroscience, psychosocial, and public health perspectives; and 3) disseminate information about meeting themes and presentations to the scientific community via an annual special issues of the Journal of Traumatic Stress (JTS). Under the direction of the P.I. and a Project Coordinating Committee, 20% of the content of the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Annual Meetings will be devoted to these issues. Keynote speakers, plenary speakers, and other presentations will be selected to insure that there is adequate programming of this type. Exemplary presentations will be summarized on the ISTSS website, and a special issue based on these presentations will be published in JTS each year. In collaboration with the DART Center for Journalism and Trauma, we will generate media coverage of research findings and their implications. The Coordinating Committee will insure that the program includes women and traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities. Survey feedback from meeting participants, data on media coverage, and citation data on articles published in Special Issues of the JTS will be obtained. Public Health Relevance As described above, the prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events such as child maltreatment, interpersonal violence, disasters, terrorism and war is high, and exposure increases the risk of mental disorders including PTSD, depression, and substance use disorders as well as the risk of physical health problems and health risk behaviors. This application will address several barriers to better traumatic stress research by providing enhanced scientific programming at three ISTSS Annual Meetings. The proposed efforts are consistent with the NIMH mission of reducing the public health burden of mental disorders by looking for cures and strategic preventions.. ? ? ?
