Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Gastroenterology was launched in 1985. 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 gastroenterology is 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 one of the Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS W. Allan WalkerW. Allan WalkerDr Allan Walker is the Conrad Taff Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, USA. He is the Director of the Mucosal Immunology Laboratory at the Mass General Hospital for Children, USA. He attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA, and took a pediatric residency, chief residency, immunology fellowship (with Dr Robert Good) at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, USA. He then came to the Massachusetts General Hospital to train in gastroenterology with Dr Kurt Isselbacher. He used this training in GI and internal medicine to develop the field of pediatric gastroenterology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital of Boston, USA, over the last twenty five years. Dr Walker's research interests involve study of the development of gastrointestinal defenses and the role of bacterial colonization in mucosal immune function. His laboratory, funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, studies breast milk immunology, microbial-epithelial “crosstalk”, and probiotic functions in health and disease. He has previously chaired the Research Committee and was a member of the Research Policy Committee of the AGA. He was also a member and Chair of GMA-2 Study Section and was a member of the NIDDK Council at NIH. He has published over 150 primary and 250 review articles and has been editor of 12 textbooks. He has been the editor of the Immunology Section of Current Opinion in Gastroenterology since its inception. Mitchell SchubertMitchell SchubertDr Mitchell Schubert is currently Professor of Internal Medicine and Physiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Health Science Center, USA, as well as Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology and Director of Endoscopy at the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Dr Schubert graduated from New York University, USA, in 1973 and Baylor College of Medicine, USA, in 1977. He completed an internal medicine residency and National Institutes of Health gastroenterology fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He joined the medical faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982. Dr Schubert has served on NIH and VA Study Sections as well as numerous American Gastroenterological Association, American College of Gastroenterology, and Veterans Administration committees. He is President of the Richmond Gastroenterological Society, Section Editor for Current Opinion in Gastroenterology, and Associate Editor for Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Dr Schubert's research interests involve the study of acid-related disorders. His laboratory studies the regulation of gastric acid secretion in health and disease. Dr Schubert has been the recipient of the Veterans Administration Career Development Award, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Research Scholar Award, and has authored over 100 original papers and reviews including the chapters “Gastric Secretion” for Sleisenger and Fordtran's textbook, Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease and “Regulation of Gastric Acid Secretion” for Johnson's textbook, Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract.