Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Hematology was launched in 1994. 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 hematology is divided into nine 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 Editor and the Section Editor for this issue. EDITOR IN CHIEF Narla MohandasNarla MohandasDr Narla Mohandas is Vice President for Research at New York Blood Center, New York, USA. He received his doctoral degree from Washington University, St. Louis, USA in Chemical Engineering. After completing post-doctoral training in hematology research with Dr Marcel Bessis, Institute of Cellular Pathology in Paris, France, he joined the Faculty of Laboratory Medicine at University of California, San Francisco where he spent 13 years. In 1989, he moved to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California to head the Hematopoiesis group. During his 12-year tenure at the Berkeley Laboratory he also served as Interim Director of Human Genome Project for three years. In 2001, he moved to the New York Blood Center. Dr Mohandas’ scientific interests during his 45-year research career have focused on red cell physiology and pathology. In particular, his efforts have contributed to improved understanding of the molecular and structural basis for red cell membrane disorders, developing detailed mechanistic insights into pathophysiology of thalassemias and sickle cell disease, characterizing structural and functional changes induced in red cells by the malarial parasite, plasmodium falciparum. His research efforts during last ten years are focused on molecular understanding of normal and disordered human erythropoiesis including Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Myelodysplasia. Dr Mohandas served as a member of the National Institutes of Health Hematology study section for 18 years and is currently member of the NHLBI Advisory Council. He has been a member of numerous committees including the Executive committee of American Society of Hematology. He served as Associate Editor of Blood from 2003–2012 and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Blood Cells, Molecules and Disease and of Current Opinion in Hematology. SECTION EDITOR David C. DaleDavid C. DaleDr David C. Dale is Professor of Medicine and former Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Washington. He is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the Harvard Medical School. He received post-graduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital, the National Institutes of Health and the University of Washington. He has career-long interests in medical education, medical history and basic and clinical research focused on inflammation, neutrophils, and the clinical problem of neutropenia. Dr Dale has served as President of the American College of Physicians, the Society of General Internal Medicine, the Western Association of Physicians, the Medical Honor Society-Alpha Omega Alpha, and the American Clinical and Climatological Association. He is Editor-in-Chief Emeritus for the Scientific American Medicine the medicine text also known as ACP Medicine. He is the Founder and Co-Director of the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry and Co-President (with Rose Marie Dale) of the Friends of the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr Dale is actively involved in teaching, research and patient care at the University of Washington and a member of the Council for the Washington Chapter of ACP.