Dirk Timmerman, MD, PhD Editor of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2005–2008

Abstract

Professor Dirk Timmerman has served as an Editor of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology for the last 3 years and has now decided to step down from the Editorial team, having served with distinction during his term. We are very grateful for the contributions that Dirk has made to the Journal as one of its Gynecological Editors. He played an important role in strengthening the content in gynecology. Dirk has been an integral part of the team responsible for the improved standing of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology in the scientific community. Our Journal now ranks #1 among acoustics journals, and has had a progressively rising impact factor (the latest being 2.67), allowing the Journal to rank #10 among all scientific journals in obstetrics and gynecology. Born in 1964 in Leuven, Belgium, Dirk Timmerman obtained an MD degree (summa cum laude) and a PhD from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. During his training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University in Leuven, he had the opportunity to work in the UK (Watford General Hospital). His PhD thesis was entitled ‘Ultrasonography in the assessment of ovarian and tamoxifen-associated endometrial pathology’ and was defended in the gothic halls of the University of Leuven with Professor Stuart Campbell as examiner. He joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Leuven and was soon promoted to the rank of Professor and Clinical Head. Dirk cofounded the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group, with Professors Tom Bourne and Lil Valentin and Dr Antonia Testa, and subsequently many other leaders in the field joined the collaboration. IOTA now includes approximately 34 centers worldwide, and represents an interdisciplinary group in which clinicians and scientists work together to improve the quality of ultrasound research in ovarian tumors. Professor Timmerman has made seminal contributions to our field, which have been published in very prestigious journals and have been highly cited. Scientific work for which he is recognized worldwide includes: the first description of an association between Meigs' syndrome and elevated CA 125 serum concentrations1; the first randomized trial on the use of ultrasonography versus office hysteroscopy in patients with breast cancer treated with tamoxifen2; the first systematic study of interobserver variability in subjective assessment of adnexal masses with ultrasound3; the application of logistic regression and artificial neural network models for characterizing whether adnexal masses are benign or malignant4, 5; the first series on conservative management of vascular malformations of the uterus6; a consensus opinion from the IOTA group which included definitions, terminology and measurements to describe sonographic features of adnexal tumors7; the first report demonstrating that intraoperative rupture of cystic Stage I cancer of the ovary worsens prognosis8; the largest study on the value of the ‘pedicle artery sign’ to detect focal endometrial pathology9; a highly cited review on endometrial cancer10; and the results of the Phase 1 IOTA trial11-13. During the last 3 years he has contributed many papers to Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology14-36. Professor Timmerman serves on the Board of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) (2003–2007, recently re-elected for another term, 2007–2011). He has been a member of the Editorial Board of our Journal since 2000. In 2005, he was asked to join the new Editorial team by Professor Yves Ville, Editor-in-Chief. During his tenure as Editor of the Journal, Professor Timmerman, together with Professor Lil Valentin, initiated a new section entitled ‘Imaging in Gynecological Disease’, which has been an interesting and welcome addition to the regular features of the Journal. During a recent conversation with Dirk, he expressed special gratitude to a group of reviewers for their generous and selfless contributions in the peer review process of the White Journal. These included Davor Jurkovic, Nicholas Raine-Fenning, Peter Dietz, Thierry Van den Bosch, Antonia Testa, Caroline Van Holsbeke, Daniela Fischerova, Juan Luis Alcazar, Elisabeth Epstein, Enrico Ferrazzi, Francesco Leone, Steven Goldstein, Ilan Timor-Tritsch, Emma Kirk and George Condous. He also acknowledged the contributions of our Managing Editor, Sarah Hatcher. Dirk will continue to work with the Journal as a reviewer, and now plans to devote time and energy to new studies undertaken by IOTA and to his academic responsibilities at the University of Leuven. On behalf of the Editors of the Journal and the Editorial Board, we want to express our profound gratitude to Dirk for his service and contributions to the Journal. Dirk will remain an active participant in ISUOG, as he will remain a member of our Board. Dirk's position as Editor will be taken over by Nicholas Raine-Fenning MBChB, MRCOG, PhD from the Division of Human Development, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. We welcome him to the Editorial team.