Abstract
In his departing remarks, outgoing NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins lamented that he should have engaged more with behavioral science to develop COVID-19 mitigation strategies [1]. Behavioral medicine can contribute unique value to public health efforts to achieve optimal health for all. Yet, we continue to see gaps in the dissemination of behavioral medicine research and gaps in the effective translation of science into public health practice and policy. The Behavioral Medicine Research Council (BMRC) addresses these gaps by building a strong collaborative foundation for behavioral medicine. The BMRC is an autonomous, joint committee made up of representatives from the four leading U.S.-based behavioral medicine organizations: the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR); the American Psychosomatic Society (APS); the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM); and the Society for Health Psychology (SfHP) [2]. The goal of the BMRC is to identify strategic behavioral medicine research goals and promote systematic, interdisciplinary approaches to achieve them. The efforts of the BMRC include but are not limited to identifying specific research targets, prescribing best practices, cultivating a field-level culture, and building coalitions and joint advocacy to improve the influence of behavioral science in the broader research community, and the public, and policymakers. The BMRC comprises two distinguished senior scientists to represent each of the member societies for 3-year terms. In addition, the editors-in-chief of the three major journals—Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Health Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine—also engage in coordinating and facilitating dissemination. This coalition represents a new effort to harness the field’s collective strength and lead toward a more remarkable impact on population health assertively.
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