Abstract
The inaugural editorial of a new Editor-in-Chief is a very formal epistle. The members of the Histochemical Society, the publisher of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry (JHC), want reassurance that their journal is following a direction they concur with. The readers of the journal want assurance that the scope and quality will remain steadfast, and, ultimately, the authors want to size up the new EIC in the context of their own manuscripts. The EIC sets the voice of a journal. EICs are imbued with special knowledge of the communication of science. Ralph D. Lillie faced similar challenges as the first EIC of JHC in 1953 as I do now in 2016. The differences lie in our use of different words and different mediums to drive the discourse of science, and the ever-expanding technological demands that shape the tasks of a contemporary editor. In today’s language, the typical EIC is a “content manager” for an e-publication that is curated by means of peer review. In 1953, readers and authors depended on libraries and their own personal copies of journals as sources of information, whereas, today, the entire content of JHC is available on-line and can be queried by a variety of search tools. Although this is a substantial divergence that evolved from the need for speed and immediacy—critical measures of every aspect of communication—the content and, more importantly, the scope of the journal are unchanged from its inception.
I view my position as being the custodian of a venerable journal of biomedical research. In a sense, JHCseems to be coming full circle, in view of the similarity between myself and the journal’s founder, Ralph D. Lillie. Lillie not only was a pathologist at the National Institutes of Health (as am I), but he was also a founding member of the Medical Board of the Clinical Center, in which I practice medicine and conduct research, and a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service, as am I. These similarities to Lillie, in addition to my ongoing research in biospecimen preservation—a focus of his research—are striking, and I sometimes reflect on this as a positive omen.
No doubt my mentors unknowingly provided critical teaching that has prepared me for this effort. I look back to my Ph.D. mentor, Grady F. Saunders, and remember the frustration I had with his edits of my first manuscripts. He left an indelible mark on my scientific writing, best summarized as “Keep it simple: subject, verb, predicate. The readers may not speak English as a first language.” Later, a nearly mystical mentor, Cecil Fox, of “Fox on Formalin” (Fox et al. 1985), taught me about the evaluation of controls and also the early literature of histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. Lastly, Max Robinowitz would invite me to co-chair a subcommittee for the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute on immuohistochemistry (Hewitt et al. 2011) at the International Congress of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry in San Diego in 2004, and he taught me the necessary patience and skills to “herd cats”.
Ultimately, pursuing and assuming the position of EIC was a very personal decision. My daughter is dyslexic, and unfortunately many people continue to associate dyslexia with an inability to learn and succeed. In fact, the converse is true. Numerous outstanding scientists, artists and leaders are dyslexic. The fact is that dyslexics think and learn differently, and it is these differences that are critical to their nature and intellect. With her diagnosis, it became apparent that many of the “issues” she suffered from were “issues” I have confronted and continue to confront daily. Her younger brother appears to be following the same path as well. Leadership, perseverance and integrity start at home, and I can think of no better means of demonstrating to my child that dyslexia is nothing more than a different way of learning and thinking than tackling a “language-centric” task as EIC.
Stepping forward to assume the position of an EIC is an act of devotion to science. I love science—exploring, testing, expanding our knowledge. I see the job of the EIC as finding, recruiting, presenting and promoting the research of others. Although an EIC may have a vision of what research the journal should focus on, ultimately, it is the work of others that guides what the EIC publishes.
My goal as EIC, shared by those who have served before me, is to provide a forum of scientific discourse of the highest quality. JHC will continue to publish stimulating papers in the in situ analysis of biology, emphasizing research that requires placing biomolecules within a cyto- and histo-morphological context. Ultimately, my task as EIC is to recruit and present research of the highest quality. My goal for the journal is to provide a forum for advances and applications of histochemistry and immunohistochemistry, while acknowledging and emphasizing the particular importance of the analytes and interpretations as well as encompassing critical aspects of biospecimens, techniques, and imaging.