The ISTSS 14th Annual Meeting, "Ending Cycles of Violence: Integrating Research, Practice and Social Policy," proved to be the society's most successful conference to date. The quality of the conference and the educational program, developed under the direction of 14th Annual Meeting Chair Elizabeth Kuh, received a 95 percent rating of excellent or good by the more than 1,100 attendees.
Held at the Downtown Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C., the conference explored a variety of traumatic stress topics while providing attendees with numerous opportunities to network and socialize.
Conference highlights included the opening plenary session panel discussion "Original Violence," featuring social activist Gloria Steinem, author and educator Geoffrey Canada, theological scholar Hyun-Kyung Chung, and ISTSS members Merle Friedman (South Africa) and Sahika Yuksel (Turkey).
During its annual awards banquet, the society recognized significant achievements in the field of traumatic stress by several members. The award winners were: Bessel van der Kolk,MD, Lifetime Achievement Award; Allison Harvey, PhD, Chaim Danieli Young Professional Award; Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Robert S. Laufer, PhD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement; and Sandra L. Bloom, MD, Sarah Haley Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence.