Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Critical Care was launched in 1995. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of critical care is divided into 13 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the journal's Editor and Section Editor for this issue. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jean-Louis VincentJean-Louis VincentDr Vincent is Professor of intensive care at the University of Brussels, Belgium, and Head of the Department of Intensive Care at the Erasme University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium. He earned his medical degree from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, with magna cum laude, with a specialty in Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine. His training included two years of fellowship in critical care medicine at the University of Southern California, USA with Prof. Max Harry Weil. Dr Vincent has signed more than 700 original articles, more than 280 book chapters and review articles, and around 800 original abstracts. He has edited 86 books including 63 in his own series Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine and Yearbook in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine published by Springer-Verlag (Heidelberg, Berlin, New York). He is co-editor of the Textbook of Critical Care (Elsevier Saunders, 5th Edition). He has also written a French Manual of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Springer, France), and is the co-editor of the series Le point sur… (Springer, France). Dr Vincent is the editor-in-chief of Critical Care, Current Opinion in Critical Care, and ICU Management. He is member of the Editorial Boards of about 30 journals including Critical Care Medicine (senior editor), PLoS Medicine, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Intensive Care Medicine, Chest, Shock, and Journal of Critical Care. Dr Vincent is presently Secretary General of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. He is a Past-President of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the European Shock Society, and the Past-Chairman of the International Sepsis Forum. For 31 years he has organized an International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine which is held every March in Brussels. This symposium, which gathers 5,000 participants, has become one of the largest meetings in the field. He received the Foundation André Loicq award in 1986, the Foundation De Kerckheer award in 2000, the Distinguished Investigator award of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2001 and the College Medalist Award of the American College of Chest Physicians in 2003. He was the Recipient of the "Society Medal” (lifetime award) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine in 2009 and he received “ Prix Scientifique Joseph Maison-Sciences biomédicales cliniques” (scientific award of the FRS-FNRS) in 2010. SECTION EDITOR Arthur P. WheelerArthur P. WheelerArthur Wheeler is a Professor in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University, USA, and serves as the Director of the Vanderbilt ICU. He is a graduate of the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, USA, then completed training programs in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care at Vanderbilt University. Dr Wheeler's research interest in severe sepsis, acute lung injury and thromboembolic disease has resulted in more than 100 publications. He is also the co-author of a successful textbook of Critical Care Medicine now in its fourth edition. He has delivered hundreds of national and international lectures and is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. Most recently Dr Wheeler has been developing and testing the effectiveness of alternative care delivery models in critical care including the use of nurse practitioners.