Society of Biological Psychiatry

What Society of Biological Psychiatry does

The Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership society founded in 1945 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, with organizational origins under California nonprofit law and a principal office in Duval County, Florida. The society's mission is to advance, integrate, and promulgate science related to psychiatric disorders in order to reduce suffering from mental illness. It serves researchers, clinicians, and academic professionals engaged in basic, clinical, and translational research in biological psychiatry, with membership capped at 2,000 per its by-laws and structured into Standard, Associate, Student, and Emeritus categories.

SOBP's core product portfolio comprises three peer-reviewed journals — Biological Psychiatry (flagship), Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (CNNI), and Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science (GOS) — distributed through Elsevier's publishing platform. The society also operates an annual scientific meeting (the 81st edition held April 30 – May 2, 2026 in New York City) with a rotating North American city cadence, an honorific awards program offering $5,000 monetary prizes across multiple categories (Gold Medal, A.E. Bennett, Somerfeld-Ziskind, and journal-specific best paper awards), and complementary initiatives including the Committee on Advancing Women in Leadership (CAWL), the AI Task Force in Biological Psychiatry, and a Global Medical Education partnership with the American Brain Coalition.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring membership dues ($180 standard/associate, $80 student), journal subscription and licensing income, and annual meeting registration fees. Membership applications are reviewed by a Membership Committee, and day-to-day administration is outsourced to Parthenon Management Group, LLC, an accredited association management company providing executive office, meetings, and member services staff. Commercial activity is constrained by the nonprofit mission and the by-laws membership cap, and growth is driven by programmatic expansion (journals, awards, AI-focused content) rather than membership scale.

Name

Society of Biological Psychiatry

Legal name

Society of Biological Psychiatry

Website

https://sobp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Society of Biological Psychiatry is a 501(c)(3) professional membership society founded in 1945 that advances scientific research in biological psychiatry through three peer-reviewed journals, an annual meeting, and a tiered membership program serving researchers, clinicians, and trainees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Medical Society

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

Keywords

• Biological psychiatry research
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Professional medical society
• Scientific membership organization
• Psychiatry annual meeting

Headquarters

HQ city

Brentwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from Standard ($180), Associate ($180), and Student ($80) members provide recurring revenue supporting society initiatives, meetings, and member programs.
2. Journal Revenues: The society generates income from its three owned journals - Biological Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. Journal access is included in membership dues.
3. Annual Meeting Fees: Revenue from annual meeting registration fees, including reduced fees for members. The 2026 meeting was held in New York City, with the 2027 meeting scheduled for Chicago.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Society of Biological Psychiatry is a nonprofit professional membership association that advances scientific research in biological psychiatry. It sells tiered memberships (Standard $180, Associate $180, Student $80 annually), publishes and distributes three peer-reviewed journals through Elsevier, and hosts an annual scientific meeting featuring plenary sessions, symposia, and networking. It also administers research awards and, through partnership with the American Brain Coalition, provides access to Global Medical Education video resources.

Product overview

The Society of Biological Psychiatry operates as a professional membership organization with a portfolio of three interconnected peer-reviewed journals (Biological Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science), an annual scientific meeting, membership program with tiered benefits, and an AI Task Force initiative. The organization also provides access to Global Medical Education resources through the American Brain Coalition partnership and offers various honorific awards recognizing achievement in the field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CAWL: Committee on Advancing Women in Leadership
• Biological Psychiatry
• Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
• Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science

Products and services

• Biological Psychiatry The flagship peer-reviewed journal published by SOBP, publishing high-impact research on the biological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders and their treatment. Available to members and institutional subscribers through Elsevier.
• Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (CNNI) A peer-reviewed journal focusing on the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, providing insights into brain function and dysfunction in mental illness. Distributed through Elsevier.
• Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science (GOS) An open science journal championing global collaboration, data sharing, and methodological transparency to ensure rigorous and reproducible research in biological psychiatry. Distributed through Elsevier.
• SOBP Annual Meeting Annual scientific meeting providing an interactive platform for learning and discovery in biological psychiatry, featuring plenary sessions, symposia, abstract presentations, networking, and career development sessions. Members receive reduced registration fees.
• SOBP Membership Professional membership offering with three categories: Standard ($180/year, requires 5+ co-authored peer-reviewed publications), Associate ($180/year, for those with fewer publications), and Student ($80/year, requires enrollment in a recognized program). Includes journal access, meeting discounts, voting rights (Standard), leadership eligibility, and committee participation.
• Global Medical Education (GME) Online medical education resource providing nearly 700 videos of evidence-based medical education from experts at Duke, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Oxford, and other institutions. Offered as a complimentary benefit to SOBP members through the American Brain Coalition partnership.

Quantifiable outcome

• Monetary prizes of $5,000 USD awarded annually for multiple research awards
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Parthenon Management Group, LLCcoreOthersSOBP is managed by Parthenon Management Group, LLC, an Accredited Association Management Company that provides essential administrative support, ensuring smooth coordination and execution of the Society's operations and initiatives. The Executive Office staff includes Senior Association Leader, Meetings Content Manager, Meetings Manager, and Member Services Manager.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP): European counterpart society focused on neuroscience and psychopharmacology, publishing European Neuropsychopharmacology and hosting a major annual congress. Directly comparable in mission and member services.
• Schizophrenia International Research Society: International society focused on schizophrenia research with member-driven governance, Schizophrenia Research journal, and biennial congress. Comparable structure and mission overlap with SOBP's biological psychiatry focus.
• International Society for Bipolar Disorders: Focused professional society for bipolar disorders research with membership, journal (Bipolar Disorders), and annual conference. Comparable operating model to SOBP at a similar scale, though narrower disease focus.
• American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP): Premier US society for neuropsychopharmacology with a selective membership model, peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychopharmacology), and an elite annual meeting. Closest peer to SOBP in mission, scale, and member profile.

Broad incumbents

• World Psychiatric Association: Global umbrella organization for psychiatry societies, representing over 250,000 psychiatrists worldwide. Comparable in mission of advancing psychiatric science but vastly larger and more globally oriented than SOBP.
• American Psychiatric Association: The largest psychiatric professional society in the US with over 38,000 members. Directly comparable as a membership organization publishing flagship journals (e.g., American Journal of Psychiatry) and hosting major annual meetings, though it covers all of psychiatry rather than the biological-psychiatry niche.

Emerging players

• Cognitive Neuroscience Society: Society supporting research on the relationship between brain and cognition, with the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and annual meeting. Partial overlap with SOBP's CNNI journal focus area.

Others

• Elsevier: SOBP's publishing partner for its three journals. As the dominant STM publisher, Elsevier is a key infrastructure counterpart rather than a competitor, but its strategic direction shapes SOBP's journal economics.
• American Brain Coalition: Alliance of which SOBP is a member organization; provides the Global Medical Education program to SOBP members. A peer through ecosystem partnership rather than direct competition.

Regional players

• Society of Biological Psychiatry - Japan: Regional biological psychiatry society in Japan with similar focus on biological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders, comparable journal and annual meeting activities, but serving a primarily Japanese membership.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLRQ_zvOUOZXCw7hir-EDrDx6DSJTClSUJ

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Society of Biological Psychiatry