The purpose and mission of behavioral medicine is to integrate the biological and psychosocial perspectives on human behavior and apply them to the practice of clinical medicine and behavioral health care. As the only encyclopedia devoted to this burgeoning interdisciplinary field, our purpose is to advance the understanding and application of behavioral medicine principles and established information among researchers and practitioners in medicine (eg, primary care, cardiology, oncology, neurology, orthopedics, reproductive health), psychology, public health, epidemiology, nursing, biostatistics, and social work. In addition, the encyclopedia will be relevant for sociologists, anthropologists, and undergraduates with some interest in the interface of human health and behavior. The broad areas covered will be quality of life and lifespan issues; population, health policy, and advocacy issues; health maintenance/promotion and disease prevention; behavioral care in medical and mental health settings; biological, psychological, and person factors in health behavior change; translation of research to clinical practice; environmental and contextual factors in health and behavior change; complementary and alternative medicine, including spirituality; measurement and methods in behavioral science; adherence to medical regimens and healthy lifestyles; health communication and technology; and professional development and practice-related issues. It is anticipated that the following subject areas will be comprehensively addressed: health psychology; nutrition, exercise, and obesity; chronic disease, pain, and disability; stress and coping; behavioral cardiology; behavioral oncology; behavioral orthopedics and sports medicine; sexual and reproductive health; HIV/AIDS; healthcare policy and administration; genetics and genomics as pertaining to risk factors and morbidity; eating disorders; depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues; research methodology, design, implementation, interpretation, and reporting; professional issues.
About the Author: Dr Marc Gellman, Editor-in-Chief
Marc Gellman, PhD, is Research Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Miami, FL, where he is also Associate Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Associate Director of the Health Psychology Training Program, and Associate Director of the Behavioral Medicine Training Program. He is the former Secretary of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine and long time Board Member of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and serves on the Editorial Boards of the journals Health Psychology, Psychophysiology, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, Psychosomatic Medicine, and the International Journal of Psychophysiology. He is a member of American Psychological Association, the American Psychosomatic Society, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and is also Chairman of the Financial Planning Committee and Program Advisor for the upcoming Eleventh International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, to be held in Washington, DC in 2010.
Previously, Dr Gellman was the Program Chair for the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Program Co-chair for the International Society of Behavioral Medicine. He served on the Editorial Board of the Sage Publications scientific book series Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology from 1997 to 2004. He also served as Program Advisor for the Tenth International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, held in Tokyo in August 2008.
Dr J. Rick Turner, Co-Editor
Rick Turner, PhD, PGCE, MICR CSci, MTOPRA, is Drug Safety Scholar and Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Research Triangle Park, NC. Dr Turner's initial academic career was in the field of Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine, conducting research at three US academic medical centers (the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and the Medical College of Georgia). During this time he held professorships in Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Preventive Medicine. He published 50 peer-reviewed papers in top-tier journals (including Annals of Behavioral Medicine and the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine), and received two international research awards for his work in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine. He also published the first student textbook in the field of Cardiovascular Reactivity, and four professional edited volumes in the field of Behavioral Medicine. Two of these volumes were published by Springer, and one of them (Hayman LL, Mahon MM, Turner JR, 2002, Health and Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence) received a Book of the Year Award from the American Journal of Nursing. Previously, he was the founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Sage Publications scientific book series Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology from 1997 to 2004 (as noted above, Dr Turner selected Dr Gellman to sit on the series' Editorial Board).
Dr Turner's current interests are in the design, implementation, and analysis of pharmaceutical clinical trials, and in the field of drug safety. He has published three textbooks and multiple invited papers in these fields, and is regularly invited to speak at international meetings. His work in clinical trials has earned him two Awards from GlaxoSmithKline, and invited Memberships of the Institute of Clinical Research, the (British) Science Council, and The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs. He is also a member of the Society of Clinical Trials and the Drug Information Association. He is particularly interested in the application of Behavioral Medicine principles in pharmacotherapy, e.g., how to improve adherence to pharmaceutical regimens, and how to minimize medication errors to the greatest extent possible.
