Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases was launched in 1988. It is part 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 infectious diseases is divided into 11 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 Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Joseph M. VinetzJoseph M. VinetzDr Vinetz graduated from Yale University and received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), USA. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA, and he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Physician Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, USA. Prior to joining the UCSD faculty in 2003, he was an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, USA, and of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases at Galveston, USA. His research focuses on tropical infectious diseases. His laboratory takes a comprehensive approach from laboratory bench to bedside, encompassing mechanistic molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology and cell biology approaches to the study of malaria transmission and leptospirosis, a disease transmitted from infected mammals (wild and domestic) to humans via infected urine. A key component of his research program is field work in the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos, where he maintains a state-of-the-art laboratory in collaboration with investigators from Peru and the United States. He is program director of a training program supported by the US National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru, entitled ‘Endemic Infectious Diseases of the Peruvian Amazon’. His research is supported by grants from the United States Public Health Service and National Institutes of Health. Yukari C. ManabeYukari C. ManabeDr Manabe is currently the Associate Director of Global Health Research and Innovation within the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, USA, an Associate Professor of Medicine, International Health, and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and a faculty member of both the Center for Tuberculosis Research and Center for Clinical Global Health Education at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. From 2007 to 2012, she was the Head of Research at the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda, a research Center of Excellence in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also the Clinical Research Site Leader for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group at Johns Hopkins. Her own research focuses on the development and testing of point-of-care and rapid diagnostics, particularly for resource limited settings. She also engages in health systems strengthening and implementation science, particularly in the area of TB-HIV infection as well as translational research in HIV, TB and opportunistic infections. Dr Manabe is an author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr Manabe obtained her undergraduate degree from Yale University, USA, and her MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA. She joined the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine faculty in 1999 after completing her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Gagandeep KangGagandeep KangProfessor Kang is Head of the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, India. Over the past two decades, she has built a research program that has conducted key studies to understand enteric infectious diseases in impoverished communities. She has published over 250 papers and is on several review committees for national and international research funding agencies. She is a member of the WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety and the Immunization and Vaccine Implementation Research Advisory Committee and chairs the Immunization Technical Advisory Group for the WHO's South East Asian Region. She serves on the scientific advisory committee of several national and international organizations. A. Clinton WhiteA. Clinton WhiteDr White completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College and medical studies at Indiana University School of Medicine, USA. He qualified in internal medicine at the University of Washington and in infectious diseases at Yale University. He completed six months as a visiting scientist in Venezuela before coming to Texas in 1989. He currently directs the Infectious Disease Division, in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, USA. Among his clinical and research interests are host-parasite interactions for Cryptosporidium and other interstinal protozoa, clinical studies in cysticercosis, host responses controlling strongyloidiasis, facioliasis, opportunistic infections in HIV, and immunoregulation in HIV-TB co-infection. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications in addition to numerous book chapters. He is a past president of the clinical group and a councilor of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.