ISPNE Service Award

The ISPNE Service Award recognizes exceptional and sustained service to the Society and to the broader psychoneuroendocrinology community. The award is conferred selectively and only on occasions when the Society wishes to recognize contributions that substantially exceed normal expectations of professional service.

2025 Award Recipient

Rose-Marie Bluthé, Ph.D.

French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE)

Dr. Rose-Marie Bluthé has been awarded the 2025 Service Award from the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology (ISPNE) in recognition of more than 30 years of service to the Society and to the affiliated journals Psychoneuroendocrinology and later Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, spanning roles from editorial assistant to managing editor.

Editorial Leadership and Human Connection

Rose-Marie is the face and heart behind the success of the journals for ISPNE. As generations of scholars have gravitated toward research on brain-body communication, scholars in this field have each had experiences of submitting manuscripts, reviews, or apologies for being late to Rose-Marie. These communications are met with disembodied auto-replies for most journals, except for PNEC and CPNEC. Here, Rose-Marie personally and emphatically communicates her intent. Your review is LATE. The extension is granted. Your paper has been accepted. CONGRATULATIONS. In an ocean of AI-generated spam, the personal touch matters deeply.

Across her 33 years with the Society and the journals, Rose-Marie’s connection to authors and reviewers shines through behind the scenes. She protects reviewers’ time if they have had health problems or are out on parental leave. Uncharacteristically late reviewers get a stern, but knowledgeable, reminder that they are not themselves — and is everything OK? This long-stretched memory for the person — who is also a reviewer and sometimes author — provides a welcome connection to the journals and Society that is impossible to duplicate. It is the view of the Society that Rose-Marie is largely responsible for so many award winners across the years describing this Society as their intellectual home and academic respite.

A Career Behind the Journals

In her career, Dr. Bluthé began in the laboratory carrying out an in vivo research program on the impact of cytokines on behavior in rats using behavioral pharmacology methods. After obtaining her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Dantzer in Bordeaux, France, Dr. Bluthé seized an opportunity to become editorial assistant for Psychoneuroendocrinology on May 1, 1992, when Robert Dantzer became Editor-in-Chief for Europe and Dr. Ned Kalin was appointed editor for North America at the same time, a role he remained in until 2018. Dr. Bluthé later expanded her responsibilities to become editorial assistant for a second journal, Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, when Robert Dantzer launched the companion journal in 2020.

Encompassing most of the history of PNEC and all of CPNEC, Rose-Marie has seen the publishing process evolve from postal mailings to computerized editorial systems. She experienced Elsevier replacing Pergamon, the original publisher of the journal. She faced exhaustion when publication operations relocated to India and the frequent turnover of personnel required her to repeatedly educate new team members about how the field truly operates. She participated in the real-world testing and, at times, substantial debugging of multiple editorial systems used by publishers. She works tirelessly to ensure the efficient, timely, and confident coordination of editorial processes, including checking manuscript conformity, inviting reviewers, helping reviewers submit evaluations on the journal website, reminding everyone (!) about deadlines, communicating with authors, and managing the publishing process to ensure journal issues were correctly presented.

As Dr. Bluthé describes it: “On the positive side, I had the privilege of viewing the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology from a different perspective than the one available to its members, and I could also meet several authors who eventually became friends.”

A Lasting Impact on ISPNE

When an opportunity arose for the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology to recognize Dr. Robert Dantzer’s achievements on the 50th anniversary of the Society’s journal, it was a unanimous and enthusiastic vote to parallel that recognition for Dr. Rose-Marie Bluthé at the same time.

In her characteristic mix of enthusiastic and emphatic all-caps, Rose-Marie responded: “it was really a BIG SURPRISE! Once again I thank you.”

On behalf of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Rose-Marie, we thank YOU!

Previous Service Award Recipients