Contextual analysis and the success of translational research

Advocacy efforts of the Society of Behavioral Medicine: a 6-year update

Six years ago, we published a paper describing the Society of Behavioral Medicine's (SBM) health policy organizational leadership structure and policy initiatives. The purpose of the current paper is to provide an update on changes in the infrastructure and new policy initiatives that have been developed since 2017. We review each of the policy leadership arms of SBM including details of the work of each and goals for the future. The SBM engages in several health policy advocacy efforts through their Advocacy Council and Position Statements Committee. The Advocacy Council launched the Health Policy Ambassador Program in 2020. The Ambassador Program serves to train members to develop longer-term relationships with legislative staff around key policy priority areas. The Position Statements Committee is responsible for overseeing the development and dissemination of health policy position statements. Both groups work together and with partner organizations to increase the impact of our science. Over the last 6 years, developing a stronger infrastructure and implementing metrics for progress such as tracking social media engagement has helped to move SBM's policy agenda forward. The work of the policy-related leadership teams can serve as a model for other organizations who are interested in further developing their policy advocacy efforts.

Cross fertilisation of Public Health and Translational Research

Public health is defined as the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy-making and research for the prevention of disease (Gatseva and Argirova in J Public Health 19(3):205-6, 2011, 10.1007/s10389-011-0412-8; Winslow in Mod Med 2(1306):183-91, 1920. 10.1126/science.51.1306.23; What is public health. Centers for Disease Control Foundation. Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, https://www.cdcfoundation.org/what-public-health; What is the WHO definition of health? from the Preamble to the Constitution of WHO as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, On 7 April 1948. The definition has not been amended since. 22 July 1946; signed by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of WHO, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force, 19 June;1948. https://web.archive.org/web/20190307113324/https:/www.who.int/about/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions). Translational research in healthcare is not only useful and satisfying for the researchers to bring their work to market but it would also support public health by bringing affordable, attainable and scalable solutions to the community at large. This is of high significance because instead of increasing the GDP spent in public health, we should focus on the increasing the translational research spending, as this would lead to improved solutions. Hence, the public health offering would reach a larger community at an improved cost. The COVID-19 pandemic and the huge number of lives it claimed exposes challenges in the public health. The pandemic has caused economic and social disruption to millions of people around the world, with many falling into extreme poverty. In early 2021, it was estimated nearly 690 million people are undernourished and by end of 2021 to increase further by 132 million (Joint statement by ILO, FAO, IFAD and WHO. Impact of COVID-19 on people's livelihoods, their health and our food systems https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people's-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems). The spending for public health has increased many folds during the pandemic and this is where translational research in healthcare can play a transformative role to reduce the burden on government healthcare budget (Covid-19 and its impact on Indian society. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/covid-19-and-its-impact-on-india/covid-19-and-its-impact-on-indian-society-27565/). Over the past decade, public health research has started playing a major role in Indian academic settings. COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the role of public health. However, the potential of using technological advancement has not been fully utilised. This is where translational research and public health can play a role to tap the full potential of technology. This review paper explores the public health practices to understand the different practices to examine how both public health and translational research can cross-fertilise. It concludes with a short discussion on implications on policymakers.

Scientism, Ethics and Evil: From Mens Rea to Cerebrum Reus

Can criminology thrive on quantitative studies alone? Can evil be operationalized? Quantitative work may have, for the time being, supplanted common sense, personal experience and resulting in an improbable "Periodic Table of humanity". Has the construction of the psychopathic concept surpassed positivist "constitutional" formulations and translated into effective (re)habilitation of individuals lacking affiliative ethical behaviors? Or has it simply fueled a deterministic neo-Lombrosian truism: moral development has a brain. Has it helped so far? Has letting go of fundamental moral concepts, implicit in organized religion - but pervasive in most cultures irrespective of religious affiliation and devotion - in favor of causal explanations based solely on neuroimaging, personality inventories or structured emotional decoding tasks, made a difference in the life - or in the defense for that matter - of wrongdoers diagnosed as intrinsically evil?

Resilient Adaptation Among At-Risk Children: Harnessing Science Toward Maximizing Salutary Environments

Compiled in this Special Section are recommendations from multiple experts on how to maximize resilience among children at risk for maladjustment. Contributors delineated processes with relatively strong effects and modifiable by behavioral interventions. Commonly highlighted was fostering the well-being of caregivers via regular support, reduction of maltreatment while promoting positive parenting, and strengthening emotional self-regulation of caregivers and children. In future work, there must be more attention to developing and testing interventions within real-world settings (not just in laboratories) and to ensuring feasibility in procedures, costs, and assessments involved. Such movement will require shifts in funding priorities-currently focused largely on biological processes-toward maximizing the benefits from large-scale, empirically supported intervention programs for today's at-risk youth and families.