2018: The Beginning of a New Era

Abstract

The Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (JCBFM) has been successfully managed since 2009 by the co-Editors-in-Chief Martin Lauritzen (2009–present), Ulrich Dirnagl (2009–2016) and Mhairi Macrae (2016–present), and their editorial support staff. Their profound commitment and loyalty to the Journal, organizational skills, and original initiatives have effectively guided the Journal through the shifting landscape of scientific publishing. This fruitful era is now coming to a close, and a new editorial team will steer the ship from 1 January 2018 onwards, with transitions starting 1 July 2017.

The next editorial team will be directed by Jun Chen, the new Editor-in-Chief. He was selected after a rigorous search process, and the decision was announced at the BRAIN 2017 meeting in Berlin, organized by the International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (ISCBFM). Dr. Chen is an Endowed Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (USA) and brings with him a wealth of experience in the fields of experimental, translational, and clinical neuroscience research. He has already served many roles at the ISCBFM and has been involved in editorial activities for numerous scientific journals. In his new role as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, he will be assisted by a team of associate editors—Rick Dijkhuizen, PhD (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands), Peter Herscovitch, MD (National Institutes of Health, USA), Guohua Xi, MD (University of Michigan, USA), and Patrick Lyden, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA). A fifth associate editor is currently being recruited. In addition, Dr. Richard J. Traystman and Dr. Ulrich Dirnagl will serve as Consulting Editors.

The new editorial team is eager to make a profound difference to the Journal and is looking forward to guiding authors through the field of modern scientific publishing in collaboration with SAGE Publications. An important goal of the editorial team is to attract papers of the highest caliber from emerging research areas, while still maintaining the Journal’s reputation and long-standing tradition in publishing high-quality articles on experimental, theoretical, and clinical aspects of brain circulation, metabolism, and imaging in health and disease. The editorial team intends to embrace novel publishing tools and strategies to modernize the Journal, and is hopeful that this will increase the Journal’s appeal and widen its circulation. To ensure the highest level of scientific integrity and publication ethics, the reviews of submitted papers will involve not only experts in the specific area of the study but also statisticians and guideline reviewers, in line with evolving publishing standards.

The editorial team is optimistic about the new era of scientific publishing. Several exciting new developments include:

A new workflow for the manuscript handling system in which peer reviews are handled by associate editors who will make preliminary, mutually agreed-upon decisions.

Promotion of cutting-edge research areas and encouragement of submissions from these fields.

Outreach to other scientific communities involved in neurovascular research.

Editorial selection of one featured article per journal issue for open access without fee.

A new look and new platforms to promote the Journal and to engage early career investigators.

Integration with Publons to enhance recognition of the important contribution of reviewers.

Recruitment of new editorial board members. Invitations for membership renewal will be sent each year, along with quantitative data on the member’s review performance for the Journal.

The new editorial team is immensely grateful for the dedication, leadership, and achievements of Ulrich Dirnagl, Martin Lauritzen, and Mhairi Macrae. We are highly motivated to continue to promote and advance the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism as a major platform for high-quality papers on basic, preclinical, and clinical neurovascular research.

Footnotes

Jun Chen is an Endowed Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His special interest is in molecular and cellular mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal cell death after brain ischemia, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or Parkinson's disease. His lab is currently investigating the mechanisms of post-stroke or post-TBI brain repair and functional recovery, with emphasis on the roles of microglial/macrophage responses, neuroinflammation, blood brain–barrier damage, and white matter injury. In the past decade, Dr Chen has served the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism in various capacities.

Rick Dijkhuizen is Professor of Experimental and Translational Neuroimaging, and Head of the Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group at the University Medical Center Utrecht (The Netherlands). His research involves multiparametric imaging of brain structure and function in health and disease, with emphasis on (1) preclinical development of tools for improved diagnosis of brain pathophysiology, (2) characterization of neural network (re)organization, and (3) monitoring of neuroprotective and restorative therapies. His team currently focuses on the development and application of translational neuromodulation strategies to enhance functional recovery after stroke. Since 2002, Dr. Dijkhuizen has served the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism in different committees, including the Board of Directors.

Peter Herscovitch is currently director of the Positron Emission Tomography Department at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. His research interest is functional brain imaging with PET, including cerebral blood flow and metabolism, neuroreceptor measurements, and brain abnormalities in neurologic and psychiatric disease. He has served the International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism as Treasurer and President. He has also served as President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Guohua Xi is Richard C. Schneider Research Professor and Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan. His research interests are: (1) the mechanisms of brain injury after brain hemorrhage; (2) iron chelation therapy for intracerebral hemorrhage; and (3) the mechanisms of preconditioning-induced tolerance to brain injury.

Patrick Lyden is Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and holds the Carmen and Louis Warschaw Chair in Neurological Research. Dr. Lyden helped lead the pivotal NINDS t-PA for Acute Stroke Trial, the first proven therapy for stroke and edited the premier text on thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke, now in its 3rd Edition. He is recognized globally for leadership in stroke therapy, having led large, multi-national trials for NIH and industry. Dr. Lyden received his medical training from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, followed by internship, neurology residency, and Stroke Research Fellowship in San Diego. From 1987 to 2009, he was a member of the Neurosciences faculty at UCSD and directed the Stroke Research Center from 1994 to 2009. He also served as staff physician at the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, Chief of Neurology, and Director of the Stroke Center at the UCSD Medical Center, and Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at UCSD. Dr. Lyden maintains an active research laboratory program active in two main areas. First, the Lyden lab seeks to understand mechanisms of injury to the neurovascular unit. Recently, Dr. Lyden’s group characterized the toxic role played by thrombin and showed evidence of direct thrombin toxicity on neurons. Thrombin is made by injured neurons, and signals astrocytes to elicit a protective response. The second area is hypothermia. The Lyden lab has demonstrated that protection by hypothermia should be very quick, but brief; otherwise the protective effect of astrocytes on neurons is abrogated. Dr. Lyden’s clinical research concerns quantitative methods of refining stroke scales and he was a key architect of the NIH Stroke Scale, used around the world to measure stroke severity. Dr. Lyden has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, American Neurology Association, American Heart Association, and the European Stroke Organization.