Abstract
In my 13 years as President of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC), and 5 years as Editor-in-Chief of its peer-reviewed clinical journal, I have enjoyed the opportunity to make more than a few momentous announcements/pronouncements. The topic of this Letter from the Editor ranks right up there as I announce two changes designed to formally acknowledge the contributions of various cadres of professional and paraprofessional providers of HIV/AIDS care: our association has changed its name to the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, whose acronym will remain as before, IAPAC; and our journal’s name has changed to the Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, whose acronym will also remain as before, JIAPAC.
Throughout our history, IAPAC has recognized, supported, and facilitated the delivery of HIV prevention, care, and treatment via multidisciplinary approaches that take into account a “team dynamic” involving clinicians and lay-providers as well as people living with HIV/AIDS. Our new name reflects a more formal recognition of that dynamic and will allow us to support and facilitate its enhanced implementation across the HIV prevention and clinical management continuum.
What does this all mean for JIAPAC? To ensure the journal’s leadership composition tracks with trends in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment service delivery, we are actively recruiting potential members to join our Editorial Advisory Board. On that note, I am proud to announce the addition of the two newest members—Jeffrey Kwong, DNP, MPH, ANP-C (Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA), and Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD, MAS (University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA). And, with respect to content and scope, we are actively soliciting the submission of manuscripts from a variety of professional and paraprofessional providers.
To nominate someone (or self nominate) to join the Editorial Advisory Board, nominees should send an email with a curriculum vitae attachment to jiapac@iapac.org. To review manuscript submission guidelines and/or to submit a manuscript online, please visit http://jia.sagepub.com.
As our Board of Trustees Chair, Rabbi Allen I. Freehling, said when our name change was announced to our membership:
IAPAC-past and IAPAC-future has at its core a mission to improve the quality of services provided to people at risk for and living with HIV/AIDS and co-morbid conditions. We will continue to do so, on behalf of our members and the millions of individuals to whom they deliver services, by battling complacency and advancing commitment three decades into the global HIV pandemic.
I could not have said it better myself…