The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) will hold its 23rd annual meeting in March 2002 in Washington, DC. As the nation's largest multidisciplinary society dedicated to advancing behavioral medicine research/practice, SBM represents over 2,500 behavioral medicine researchers and practitioners, including the nation's leading cancer prevention and control researchers. SBM's annual meetings have become a forum for the field's most important research and practice, and increasingly cover topics and research strategies that are consistent with the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) cancer prevention and control mission. Between 1996-2000, scientific and clinical presentations in the core Cancer Track (i.e., cancer etiology, screening, prevention or treatment) doubled, increasing from 6 percent to 12 percent. In addition, a very large portion of the rest of the program (over 50 percent) consistently address topics more broadly related to cancer prevention and control (e.g., tobacco, diet, physical activity, pain management, tailored communications, risk perception, addressing disparities in health and behavior), with increasing emphasis on the relevant challenges of integrating advances in basic bio-behavioral biomedical research and new technology, translating science to improved health outcomes, harnessing advances in communications technology and preparing new leadership for transdisciplinary research. This proposal seeks funding over the next five years (2002-2006) for program activities consistent with the general aims and mission of the NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, namely: (1) support for SBM's core Cancer Track; and (2) support for four additional annual program features.
