The Leader’s Mind Matters: The Effect of Mindful Leadership Development Programs on Leadership Effectiveness, Mindfulness, and Well-Being Among Global Manufacturing Leaders

The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to examine the effects of mindful leadership development programs and mindfulness practices on wellbeing, dispositional mindfulness, and leadership effectiveness among 102 global manufacturing leaders facing volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environments. Organizations worldwide report challenges to develop leaders to lead effectively and maintain well-being in VUCA environments. Evidence points to the benefits of mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety, in addition to providing behavioral and cognitive improvements to support leadership effectiveness. Although a few global organizations are offering mindful leadership development programs, there is a gap between industry practices and scholarly research. The results of this study suggest leaders who completed one mindful leadership development program reported greater well-being and received higher annual leadership effectiveness performance appraisal scores (PAS). Leaders who engaged in consistent mindfulness practices also reported higher levels of leadership effectiveness (PAS) as compared to leaders without a mindfulness practice. Implications exist for the bodies of knowledge concerning well-being and leadership effectiveness in VUCA environments, and leadership development programs. Recommendations were provided for future research, culture and strategy, professional practice, and executive leadership. This is the first study (to date) to investigate the effects of mindful leadership development programs for global manufacturing leaders facing VUCA conditions

Emerging concepts in biomarker discovery; The US-Japan workshop on immunological molecular markers in oncology

Supported by the Office of International Affairs, National Cancer Institute (NCI), the "US-Japan Workshop on Immunological Biomarkers in Oncology" was held in March 2009. The workshop was related to a task force launched by the International Society for the Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to identify strategies for biomarker discovery and validation in the field of biotherapy. The effort will culminate on October 28th 2009 in the "iSBTc-FDA-NCI Workshop on Prognostic and Predictive Immunologic Biomarkers in Cancer", which will be held in Washington DC in association with the Annual Meeting. The purposes of the US-Japan workshop were a) to discuss novel approaches to enhance the discovery of predictive and/or prognostic markers in cancer immunotherapy; b) to define the state of the science in biomarker discovery and validation. The participation of Japanese and US scientists provided the opportunity to identify shared or discordant themes across the distinct immune genetic background and the diverse prevalence of disease between the two Nations

The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are a significant problem in the community, and recent neuroimaging research has focused on determining the brain circuits that underlie them. Research on the neurocircuitry of anxiety disorders has its roots in the study of fear circuits in animal models and the study of brain responses to emotional stimuli in healthy humans. We review this research, as well as neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders. In general, these studies have reported relatively heightened amygdala activation in response to disorder-relevant stimuli in post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, and specific phobia. Activation in the insular cortex appears to be heightened in many of the anxiety disorders. Unlike other anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with diminished responsivity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and adjacent ventral medial prefrontal cortex. Additional research will be needed to (1) clarify the exact role of each component of the fear circuitry in the anxiety disorders, (2) determine whether functional abnormalities identified in the anxiety disorders represent acquired signs of the disorders or vulnerability factors that increase the risk of developing them, (3) link the findings of functional neuroimaging studies with those of neurochemistry studies, and (4) use functional neuroimaging to predict treatment response and assess treatment-related changes in brain function