Changes

Abstract

It is with both sadness and delight that The Editorial Board of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology announces the resignation of Dr Steven Gabbe and the appointment of Drs William Grobman and Samuel Parry as Associate Editors. Dr Gabbe joined the Board as an Associate Editor in July 1990 and has served with great distinction for 20 years. An extremely well-known and respected individual in the obstetric and general academic community, Steve has been on the faculty at the Universities of Colorado and Pennsylvania, served as Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Ohio State, and Dean of the College of Medicine at Vanderbilt. He is currently Senior Vice President for Health Sciences for the Ohio State University and Chief Executive Office of the Ohio State University Medical Center. Despite what is obviously an enormous work load in these major leadership roles, Steve dedicated himself to the job of Editor at AJOG and, along with a group of editors equally dedicated, continued the proud tradition of the Journal. It is regrettable, but completely understandable, that his current position does not allow him the time he believes he needs to continue his work on the Journal; thus, he has resigned to make way for a new Editor to try to fill his shoes. On behalf of all of the Editorial Board and the Publishers of AJOG, we express our gratitude to Steve and our appreciation for the extraordinarily great work he has done for the Journal and the distinction he has brought to it. At the same time that we sought to replace Dr Gabbe, the Editors and Publishers of the Journal decided that we also have been in need of an additional Editor who would be better able to coordinate the many basic science papers that are submitted to AJOG. The diversity of basic science and the difficulty in identifying reviewers for these papers made it obvious to us that we were in need of an individual who is better connected to this area. Our search committees identified many outstanding potential new editors and ultimately chose Dr Bill Grobman to replace Dr Gabbe and Dr Samuel Parry to become the new Editor primarily responsible for basic science articles. Dr Grobman was educated at Amherst College and Harvard Medical School and did his training in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal Fetal Medicine at Northwestern University. He is currently Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine at the Institute for Health Care Studies and Director of the Maternal Fetal Fellowship program at the Feinberg School of Medicine. His areas of expertise are in epidemiology, research design, cost-effectiveness, and patient safety studies. Dr Parry did his undergraduate work at the University of Scranton, his medical education at Columbia University, his residency in obstetrics/gynecology at State University of New York at Buffalo, and his fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine. His focus of research has been on the genetic and environmental causes of preterm birth and the impact of viral infections on placental function. He is an active participant in research at the Penn Molecular Profiling facility and the Penn Proteomics and Systems Biology Center. Both Drs Grobman and Parry are involved actively in several collaborative research networks that include the National Institute of Child and Human Development Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit network and the NuMoM2B network. Both men have served the Journal as outstanding reviewers and provided some of the most comprehensive and excellent reviews, and both have been recognized for a number of years in our list of top 100 reviewers, the top 5% of all who participate in this role. We are proud that these outstanding individuals have agreed to join the Editorial Board of the Journal. They will bring youth, energy, and expertise in areas where much is needed, and we anticipate that they will contribute to the growth and vitality of the Journal. We welcome them and say farewell to Dr Gabbe and wish him continued success in his most important leadership role in medical education and health care.