The American Psychosomatic Society
58th Annual Scientific Meeting
will be held March 1-4, 2000
at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort
in Savannah, Georgia.

Preliminary Program at a Glance

WEDNESDAY

1-4pmPre-conference workshop: Brain-Heart Imaging, Co-Chairs: David Krantz, PhD and David S. Sheps, MD

5-6pmCitation Posters

6-6:30pmPresident's Award, "The Growing Foundation of Guiding Principles for Clinical Psychoendocrinology"
John W. Mason, MD (After Dr Mason's lecture, the APS Scholar Awards will be handed out.)

6:30-7:30pmWelcome Reception (continue citation poster viewing)

THURSDAY

8-10am
Paper Sessions:
--Cancer Mechanisms & Treatment, Chair: Susan K. Lutgendorf, PhD

--Stress Mechanisms: Lab and Life, Chair: Susan S. Girdler, PhD

--Depression & Cardiovascular Disease, Chair: Shari R. Waldstein, PhD
10-10:30am
BREAK

10:30am - 12:30pm --Symposium: Psybersomatic Medicine - Internet Resources for Health and Disease, Co-Chairs: Steven E. Locke, MD and Christoph Herrmann, MD

--Case Studies Grand Rounds: 2 different case studies will be presented: HIV and Cardiovascular Disease, Co-Chairs: Norman B. Levy, MD and Shari R. Waldstein, PhD


12:30 - 2pm LUNCH ON OWN

2-4pm
Disease of the Year: Cancer
Chair: Norman B. Levy; Presenters: David Spiegel, MD and Ronald Herberman, MD

4-4:15 BREAK

4:15-5:15pm

WT Grant Lecture: SES Disparities in Health and Development of Children and Youth: The Intersection of Biology and Environment, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, PhD

5:30 - 6:30pm
Mentor/Mentee Cocktail Reception

8-10pm
Poster Session I

FRIDAY

8-10am Debate: Resolved: Laboratory Studies of Stress Are Not Relevant to Understanding Health in the Real World
Chair: Nicholas Christenfeld, PhD
Presenters: Richard P. Sloan, PhD, William Gerin, PhD, Karina Davidson, PhD and Douglas Carroll, PhD

10-10:30am BREAK

10:30am - 12:30pm --Paper Session: Women's Health, Chair: Susan Everson, MPH, PhD

--Symposium: Psychosocial Factors and Bacterial Disease, Chair: Susan B. Levenstein, MD

--Paper Session: Stress & Endocrine Function, Chair: Do-Un Jeong, MD, PhD

12:30-2:30pm LUNCH (Roundtables) Please see descriptions on page 3.

2:30-4:30pm --Paper Session: Psychoneuroimmunology, Chair: Paul J. Mills, PhD

--Symposium: Clinical Trials in Behavioral Medicine: Lessons Learned in the Field, Chair: Matthew M. Burg, PhD

4:30-6:30pm
Poster Session II

SATURDAY
8-9am
Presidential Address: Interoception: The Inside Story, Oliver G. Cameron, MD, PhD, President, American Psychosomatic Society

9-9:45am Early Career Award Lecture

9:45 - 10:15am BREAK

10:15am - 12:15pm --Paper Session: Psychological Status, Stress, Disease, Chair: Mustafa al'Absi, PhD

--Symposium: Religiosity, Spirituality and Health, Chair: Patrick Steffan, PhD

12:15-1:45pm LUNCH ON OWN

1:45-3:45pm --Paper Session: Anger, Hostility & Cardiovascular Disease, Chair: David S. Sheps, MD

--Paper Session: GI Disorders: Mechanisms & Clinical Factors, Co-Chairs: Jane Leserman, PhD and Shin Fukudo, MD

--Symposium: Social Environment and Childhood Health, Co-Chairs: Edith Chen, PhD and Karen A. Matthews, PhD

3:45-4:15pm BREAK

4:15-5:15pm Patricia R. Barchas Award: Neonatal Maternal Nurturing Reduces Adult Stress Reactivity in a Rat Model, Michael Meaney, PhD

5:15-6pm
Business Meeting

6:30pm
Reception and Banquet
MENTORING PROGRAM

This year, the APS is again organizing a mentoring program that will give student/trainees the opportunity to meet with a mentor during the annual meeting, and possibly establish an on-going relationship thereafter. Individuals who wish to participate should indicate so by checking off the line on your registration form, indicating your primary clinical/research interest area, and mailing in a copy of your CV. The information provided will be used to match Mentors and Mentees. Copies of the CVs of both members of the pair will be provided to each when the match is first made. APS Members who wish to serve as mentors should be willing to contact their mentee during the Annual Meeting and set up an informal meeting (e.g. a lunch or breakfast meeting) to discuss the mentee's career path and goals. Mentees who wish to participate should be seeking career advice/guidance. Although mentors/mentees will have no formal obligation beyond the first meeting, we expect that a number of individuals will want to continue contacts by phone, email, or in person. As with last year, we anticipate this being a great opportunity for both mentors and mentees - don't miss out.
Please be sure to register for the meeting and this mentor/mentee program by January 21 to ensure enough time for appropriate matching to take place. You will be notified of your match mid-February. APS will also be hosting a Trainee/Mentor cocktail reception on Thursday evening that will afford further meeting time between mentors and mentees, as well as a chance for students and trainees to meet each other.

Women's Rountable Breakfast

On Thursday morning from 7-8am, there will be a women's roundtable breakfast entitled, "Career Development Issues for Women in Academia." Space is limited to 25 participants, and pre-registration is required.

Roundtable Description: Women often face unique challenges as they build their academic careers and this roundtable is designed to address some of these challenges. Specifically, we will address the topics of networking, communication, the "glass ceiling" and related career development issues for women in academia. The roundtable is geared toward junior faculty and advanced graduate students but others who wish to participate and share their experiences are also welcome. This session will be led by Drs. Jean Endicott, Sue Everson, Karen Matthews, Lynda Powell, and Brenda Toner.

Roundtable Lunches on Friday

There will be six (6) different roundtable lunches offered on Friday from 12:30 - 2:30pm. There is an additional fee to cover costs, and pre-registration is required. Space will be limited to 25 participants per session.

# 1 - Altered Pain Perception in Hyptertension
Hosts: Drs. Mustafa al'Absi and Christopher France
This roundtable will focus on themes related to the dyregulation of pain perception in people with hypertension or who are at high risk. We will discuss themes related to etiological mechanisms and clinical significance.

# 2 - Functional Imaging
Hosts: Drs. Richard D. Lane and Oliver G. Cameron
While brain imaging has enormous potential for advancing our understanding of the mechanisms linking mental states and behavior with disease pathophysiology, relatively little work has been done to date that is relevant to psychosomatic medicine. To facilitate growth in this area, a dialogue is needed between those with expertise in brain imaging techniques and researchers who are doing research that links mental states or behaviors with disease processes. We would like to bring together several groups of researchers including those who: 1) have used brain imaging in their research; 2) believe that brain imaging has potential to enhance their own research; and 3) are interested and simply want to learn more. We hope to discuss some of the findings to date that are relevant to psychosomatic medicine, discuss research findings that have not yet been but could be fruitfully extended using brain imaging techniques, and discuss ways to overcome feasibility barriers in implementing this type of research.

# 3 - Inter-Networking in Psychosomatic Medicine
Hosts: Drs. Steven E. Locke and Christoph Herrmann
The internet is the fastest-growing new technology in history and most people access it for health and disease issues. This roundtable luncheon aims at deepening the discussion started by the "Psybersomatic Medicine" symposium held on Thursday. It offers an opportunity for internet experts, researchers, and clinicians to interact and develop opportunities for future networking and collaboration on internet applications in clinical psychosomatic medicine and research.

# 4 - Treatment of Depression in Patients with Tuberculosis
Host: Dr. Jesus J. Ortiz
The treatment of depression in patients with TB with and without AIDS (and possibly other medical problems) involves multiple medications with the subsequent potential for side effects and drug-drug interactions has to be taken into consideration in choosing an antidepressant. We would like to share our experience in treating such patients as well as receive feedback from others.

# 5 - Gastrointestinal Disorders
Hosts: Drs. Susan Levenstein and Douglas Drossman
The third annual APS Gastroenterology Special Interest Group luncheon will again bring together researchers and clinicians interested in mind-body interactions in gastrointestinal disorders. The past year has been a particularly strong one for the biopsychosocial model as applied to organic GI disease, since new studies have debunked the exclusive causal role of H. pylori in peptic ulcer, and others have convincingly linked stress with exacerbations of inflammatory colitis. Research in functional GI disorders has been making great strides as well, especially with publication of the Rome criteria. All interested conference participants are invited to attend the luncheon in order to discuss these and other new developments, to share (or even seek collaborators for) their own recent, ongoing, and future research, and to discuss our possible role in a new APS project: producing curricular materials for teaching the biopsychosocial model to students of medicine and psychology.

# 6 - Cancer
Hosts: Drs. Dana H. Bovbjerg and Marzio Sabbioni
The purpose of this roundtable is to provide a forum for discussion and networking among researchers at the meeting with a particular interest in cancer. Topics could include practical or theoretical issues concerning planned or ongoing work. In addition, we will discuss plans to increase the visibility and utility of the APS meeting to foster high quality research in this area.

Pre Conference Workshop

"Brain Heart Interactions in Psychosomatic Medicine"
Co-Chairs: Drs. David S. Krantz and David S. Sheps
Recent developments in imaging techniques for assessing cardiac function and brain activation provide new opportunities for research on brain-heart interactions in psychosomatic medicine. The three presenters in this workshop will discuss techniques of neuroimaging, the joint use of cardiac radionuclide imaging and PET in the study of mental stress-induced ischemia, and new techniques and methods for assessing the role of vascular endothelial function in coronary artery disease risk.

Neuroimaging in the Context of Cardiovascular Measurement
Dr. Richard D. Lane

Structural and functional brain imaging can provide new insights into the mechanisms linking mental states and cardiovascular function. However, no one brain imaging technique is ideal for all research purposes. An overview will be presented of the types of information that can be provided by the different neuroimaging techniques, with special emphasis placed on positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. A major objective is to develop an appreciation for the trade?offs that one must currently confront when attempting to simultaneously monitor functions of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems.

Brain Activation and Myocardial Ischemia: PET and Radionuclide Imaging Studies
Dr. Robert Soufer

This presentation will review the regional brain activation response to stress, including the correlation of brain responses, assessed via Positron Emission Tomography (PET), with cognitive and behavioral traits. After this general introduction, the interaction of brain and heart in the production of mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia, and the results of studies employing both brain PET and cardiac radionuclide imaging will be reviewed. The last portion of the presentation will outline the challenges which will need to be addressed to broaden our understanding of the relationship between the brain and heart disease.

Endothelial Function and Cardiovascular Disease
Dr. Alan L. Hinderliter

This presentation has several objectives: 1) To review the function of the vascular endothelium; 2) To describe methods of assessing endothelial function; 3) To discuss the role of endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease; and 4) To review data suggesting a relationship between endothelial function and stress reactivity.

Registration Information

As you can see from the Program-at-a-Glance, the American Psychosomatic Society 58th Annual Scientific Meeting in Savannah, GA is full of exciting topics and activities. The meeting addresses the essential mission of the Society: to promote and advance the 1) scientific understanding of the interrelationships among biological, psychological, social and behavioral factors in human health and disease, 2) the integration of the fields of science that separately examine each, and 3) to foster the application of this understanding in education and improved health care.

We encourage you to accept our invitation to join us in historic Savannah as we offer an incentive of $50 off the regular registration fee for pre-registering by February 1, 2000. Just return the registration form with your payment, or register on line: www.psychosomatic.org, and prepare to enjoy everything Savannah has to offer while you're involved with a very special group of people at the American Psychosomatic Society's Annual Meeting.

Paid receipts will be available at the registration desk upon request. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your pre-registration form if you would like confirmation.

Cancellation Policy

Registration cancellation cannot be accepted by phone. Please FAX (703-556-8729) or mail cancellations to the APS office, as all cancellations must be received in writing:

  • l A $50 fee will be assessed for cancellation received by March 1, 2000.
  • l 50% of the registration fee will be refunded for cancellation received after March 1, 2000.
  • l All refunds will be processed after the meeting.


The Headquarters Hotel

The Westin Savannah Harbor Resort is a new hotel located at One Resort Drive, Savannah, Georgia, a two-minute water taxi from Historic Savannah. The Westin's structural design blends with the historic and coastal setting of downtown Savannah. The lobby is decorated elegantly with deep wood furnishings and stylish design. All guest rooms offer a spectacular view of the city, remote control televisions, in-room movies, two dual-line phones with data ports, iron and ironing board, blow dryer, individual safe, coffee maker, bathrobe and mini-bar. There are several options for food and beverage needs to choose from, including two restaurants, two lounges, and a cabana. The Westin offers many ways to relax and enjoy your stay in Savannah. There is golf, tennis, a spa, pools, fitness center, a marina, and a recreation department that can coordinate special activities. The Westin provides excellent service and upscale accommodations.

Trasportation

Getting to Savannah, GA: The Savannah International Airport is serviced by many major airlines including Delta, USAirways, United Express, Continental Express, Midway Connection, AirTran, and others. There are several daily flights to major U.S. destinations and non-stop service to major cities.

Getting to the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort from the Savannah International Airport: The Savannah International Airport is located 16 miles from downtown Savannah. There are over 100 registered taxis in Savannah. A taxi ride will cost approximately $15-18. Transportation from the airport to the hotel is also available via a shuttle, which is approximately $18 for one passenger and $5 for each additional passenger.

Pre & Post Travel Ideas

  • The Historic District is just a two minute taxi ride away.
  • Take a one-hour cocktail cruise on the Savannah River with the Savannah Riverboat Company.
  • Visit Old Fort Jackson, the oldest standing brick fort in Georgia, located on the Savannah River.
  • Stroll around the Rousakis Plaza restored to preserve Savannah's historic waterfront. There are several boutiques, galleries, artist studios, and restaurants.
  • Forsyth Park lies on the edge of the Historic District and is surrounded by live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
  • Telfair Museum of Art is the oldest art museum in the Souteast. The museum offers paintings, prints, sculpture, decorative arts, and an ongoing series of traveling exhibitions.
  • The Westin Savannah Harbor Resort also offers several activities to choose from.
  • Hilton Head Island, SC is 45 miles North of Savannah.


The American Psychosomatic Society obtained exceptional special sleeping room rates of $149 single or double occupancy for our meeting attendees. All attendees are encouraged to stay at the headquarters hotel, as it helps with the overhead costs of APS. To obtain these special room rates, please call the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort directly at 912-201-2090; or toll free into the Westin Central reservations office at 1-800-228-3000. When calling, please be sure to mention you are with the American Psychosomatic Society meeting to take advantage of the group rate. The cut-off date for reservations is February 1, 2000. Any reservations requested after this date will be on a "subject to availability" basis, at the best available rate


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