Society for Prevention Research Annual Meetings, 2017-2021

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This application requests R13 funding to support the Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR), and activities closely related to the Annual Meeting, for five years (2017—2021). The Society for Prevention Research (SPR) was established in 1991 and has catalyzed the growth of the prevention science. The strength of SPR and its relevance to the transdisciplinary field of prevention science, national policy and practice has been new discoveries, new methods, and integration of research and knowledge from multiple fields. SPR's goal is improving the science of prevention across all aspects of physical and mental health and social well-being. Further, SPR strives to foster the development of new methodologies and statistical tools to improve the learning from longitudinal studies and prevention trials. The cutting-edge research and scientific advancements discussed at the Annual Meeting support the achievements of the more than 800 members of SPR, and catalyze the improvement of public health and well-being. Research featured at the SPR Annual Meeting focuses on epidemiology and prevention of a variety of behavioral health problems including the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, violence, early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, mental health problems, and physical health problems including obesity and cancers. Research also focuses on the promotion of healthy outcomes, including issues related to maternal, infant, and child health, social/emotional development, and academic achievement.  The Annual Meeting, which now draws more than 800 attendees per year, fills an important role in promoting prevention science as a transdisciplinary field, bringing together scientists to promote cross- fertilization of theory, methods, and intervention with the goal of building the science of effective strategies for health promotion and prevention. The meeting features science that directly addresses a number of critical needs raised in the NIH Roadmap Science of Behavior Change Meeting, including: (1) the use of multilevel approaches and understanding the effects of environmental contexts; (2) the use of approaches that target multiple outcomes and behaviors; (3) research informed by a developmental perspective, (4) research to better understand the mechanisms underlying behavior change; and (5) research on the development, dissemination, and use of innovative methods. Further, the meeting and SPR's new 5-year Strategic Plan have synergy with many NIH initiatives including precision medicine, big data, and integrating biological and neurological discoveries into prevention innovations.   The Specific Aims of the current application build on the progress in the field of prevention science, prior annual meetings, work of SPR committees and workgroups and on the SPR's five-year strategic planning process. These specific aims are: (1) To continuously develop an integrated scientific forum for the exchange of new concepts, methods, and results from prevention research at the Annual Meeting. SPR's annual meeting provides an essential forum for the exchange of transdisciplinary research across health domains and disciplines and in all areas of prevention science. The annual meeting fosters innovation by integrating the latest methods across epidemiology, etiology, efficacy and effectiveness research and implementation and dissemination science to build the evidence base and inform policy and practice, and ultimately improve public health; (2) To generate, promote, and support innovation in prevention science through Mapping Advances in Prevention Science (MAPS) Task Forces. The two proposed MAPS task forces work during and between Annual Meetings to advance emerging key scientific issues, nurturing critical areas for innovation across content areas and methodologies. These are: 1) The Prevention Science of Context and Biology; and 2) Methods for Leveraging Big Data in Prevention Science. Key products of these MAPS task forces include widely disseminated documents that provide a roadmap for future effort around these topics to advance prevention science and public health; (3) To use the Annual Meeting to support the development and diversity of the next generation of prevention scientists through training, career building, and leadership development. SPR is committed to providing career opportunities, training and mentoring to junior and under-represented minority investigators through and between the annual meetings to develop and support the expertise and diversity of the next generation of prevention scientists; (4) To ensure that the scientific developments emanating from the Annual Meetings, the journal Prevention Science, and the MAPS Task Forces have maximum impact on public health. SPR will use innovations in social media and communications technology, including development of digital communications materials, infographics, and social media content, to ensure that cutting-edge scientific developments in prevention science are widely disseminated to improve the public health.