Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care was launched in 2007. 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 fields of supportive and palliative care are divided into 12 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 Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Aminah JatoiAminah JatoiDr Aminah Jatoi is the Betty J. Foust, M.D. and Parents’ Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. A practicing medical oncologist, she has been interested in symptom control research in cancer patients for over 20 years. She holds a special interest in cancer-associated weight loss, having completed a three-year fellowship in clinical nutrition. She is the author of more than 350 publications. Dr Jatoi has received research funding from multiple sources, including the United States’ National Cancer Institute. Barry J.A. LairdBarry J.A. LairdBarry J.A. Laird graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow, UK, in 1997 and completed higher specialist training in palliative medicine in 2009. During his training in palliative medicine, he was awarded a National Cancer Research Institute Fellowship and joined the academic palliative medicine department at the University of Edinburgh, UK, with Professor Marie Fallon. He completed his MD in cancer induced bone pain and neuropathic cancer pain in 2009 and was then awarded a fellowship from the European Palliative Care Research Centre (PRC), working with Professor Stein Kaasa. His interest in cachexia was nurtured by the late Professor Kenneth Fearon. He currently holds positions as a Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant in palliative medicine in St Columba's Hospice, UK. His research interests are focused around symptoms in life-limiting illness and the role of palliative care in optimising the care of malignant (lung and pancreatic cancer) and non-malignant disease. He leads a research programme examining the systemic inflammatory response in cachexia, symptom genesis and prognosis in cancer. He has published over 70 papers and is the Chief Investigator and the Principal Investigator of clinical trials in symptomatology and treatment.