In a testament to the ongoing excellence of SPH-B, two of our faculty have been inducted as Fellows into the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM): Professor Richard Holden and our newest faculty member, Professor Matthew Lee Smith.
Founded in 1978, SBM is one of the oldest multidisciplinary professional organizations that brings together leading experts from a wide variety of backgrounds in advancing behaviors like exercise, sleep, nutrition and stress management to improve health outcomes across the spectrum.
An SPH-B graduate, Smith started this February as a professor in the Department of Applied Health Science (AHS) with a secondary appointment in the Department of Health & Wellness Design (HWD). A renowned health scholar in gerontology and healthy aging interventions, Smith also serves as a co-director of the Center for Health by Design (CHxD) alongside colleague and HWD Associate Professor Edmond Ramly.
“This Fellowship is less about my career as more about the recognition of my impact and my potential to advance the society in terms of the organizational values and the next generation of scholars,” says Smith. “So much of my career is devoted to mentorship and professional development. This Fellowship gives me the distinction to nurture and elevate the careers of other society members.”
Smith says returning as a “Bloomerang” to contribute to ongoing innovative research on healthy aging for the state as well as nationwide is a thrilling opportunity.
“I am looking forward to working with the impressive group of IU collaborators in the aging space so we can bring some higher-level initiatives, programs, and solutions to the Hoosier state,” says Smith. “I want to integrate my experience with the diverse expertise in aging here at the university. Innovation occurs when you bring together inter-disciplinary scholars with varying perspective and skill sets.”
Holden, who among many other achievements is the founding director of CHxD, shares that the SBM special interest groups on Aging and Digital Health significantly supported his own nationally recognized research on healthy aging and technology.
“Regardless of our topic areas, the SBM community develops and shares tools and methods to study and intervene on health behavior,” says Holden. “We work together as a scientific community to solve sticky challenges such as measuring treatment adherence, promoting self-care behavior, and adopting lifestyle habits.”
Holden adds that the organization is very proactive about fostering mentoring and educational programs amongst its members. He is currently participating in a joint research program with Associate Professor Melissa Pangelinan in the Department of Kinesiology exploring interventions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; as well as their caregivers.
Holden says another key collaboration with colleagues like Smith is creating effective health interventions for caregivers that can be sustained and scaled through implementation science.
"People who live longer do not necessarily live healthier lives and as one ages, their chances of developing a major disability or disease such as diabetes, cancer, depression or Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias [ADRD] greatly rises,” says Holden. “The accompanying challenge is to provide a broader scope of care, such as in our care coordination, digital health, and artificial intelligence interventions.”
Read more about SPH-B faculty, staff, and students making a difference at go.iu.edu/48bx.