Changing of the Guard

Abstract

Kidney International is entering a time of transition. For almost 8 years, Saulo Klahr, M.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has served as the Editor. Beginning on September 1, 2005, Qais Al-Awqati, M.B., Ch.B., from Columbia University in New York, will assume responsibility for new submissions to the journal and will begin his full editorship on January 1, 2006. In addition, the International Society of Nephrology has selected a new publisher for the journal, Nature Publishing Group, who will also begin their publishing agreement on January 1, 2006. Such transfers are always momentous in the life of an important journal—something known to something new. The International Society of Nephrology has thought long and hard about this transition and what it might mean for the journal's readership. Our Editors have always been distinguished nephrologists. In its 34-year history, our journal has known only three—Roscoe “Ike” Robinson, Tom Andreoli, and Saulo Klahr. Dr. Klahr has raised the standards of published articles, increased the impact factor of Kidney International, expanded our advertising, and given our readers the very best of what is available from the clinical and basic science of renal medicine. His wise counsel, practical insight, and prudent restraint have skillfully guided the scholarship of our discipline. In the period of his editorship we have seen spectacular growth in the technical and intellectual creativity of our work. He has chosen the best reviewers and attracted the finest papers any Society could hope to achieve for its journal. Kidney International is a rare flower in bloom because of its care and feeding by an individual who has loved the work and discipline needed to ensure its success. The International Society of Nephrology owes a great debt and thanks to one of its foremost members. On behalf of all the members of our Society, we pay homage to Saulo's charm, humility, and gift for critical thinking that has been so essential to the success of the journal. Our new Editor, Qais Al-Awqati, M.B., Ch.B., Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University in New York, is an expert in the fields of acid-base physiology, epithelial biology, and nephron development. Dr. Al-Awqati has had previous experience on the Editorial Board of Science and currently is the Deputy Editor of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. A special committee following an international search led by Heini Murer, Ph.D., at the University of Zurich, selected our new Editor. In parallel with this search for a new editor, the Society's leadership thought that we should also look at other publishers, as our contract with Blackwell Publishing was due for reevaluation and renewal. Blackwell Publishing and its personnel have served the journal and Society superbly since January 1992, but the Executive Committee of the Society was intrigued by an offer to switch to Nature Publishing Group. Nature Publishing Group's publishing management teams in New York and London are going to be a terrific asset to creating a new vision for Kidney International. Dr. Al-Awqati was involved in the final decision and all of us are delighted with the planned move. Dr. Al-Awqati is in the process of building his new editorial team and has wonderful plans for additional improvements to the format and selection of articles for Kidney International. Change, as we know, is always bittersweet, but the transition from Saulo Klahr to Qais Al-Awqati will be seamless, thoughtful, and enormously worthwhile for our members and the research and clinical community who depend on Kidney International for leadership in the science of renal medicine. We thank all those involved in this transition and are especially grateful for the deep talent in our Society whose interest in global nephrology has so much to offer.