Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Lipidology was launched in 1990. 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 lipidology is divided into six 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 Andrew NewbyAndrew NewbyAndrew Newby is British Heart Foundation Professor of Vascular Cell Biology. He graduated in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from Cambridge, UK and studied for a PhD with Professor CN Hales FRS. He then worked on adenylate cyclase with Nobel Laureate Martin Rodbell at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Afterwards, he held a Beit Memorial Fellowship in Cambridge where he elucidated the metabolic pathways responsible for production of the cardioprotective metabolite, adenosine. Subsequently, he was successively Non-clinical Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor in Cardiff, UK. While continuing to work on adenosine, he contributed to the identification of the endothelium-derived relaxing factor as nitric oxide. He is most known however, for discovering a role for matrix degrading metalloproteinases in vascular smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation in vein grafts, after angioplasty and in atherosclerosis. His elucidation of the inflammatory basis of metalloproteinase production is continuing to shed light on the role of inflammation in plaque rupture and myocardial infarction. He was one of the first vascular biologists to use adenovirus-mediated gene transfer which he now combines with other post-genome technologies. This work has led to more than 150 peer-reviewed research papers and 30 reviews, which have collectively attracted 8000 citations (H>57). It was continuously supported by UK programme grants for the past 20 years. Prof. Newby was also Co-director of the EC-funded European Vascular Genomics Network. Prof Newby has served on grants committees of the major UK Research Councils and Charities and also reviewed grants for Belgian, Dutch, French, German and other overseas bodies. His Editorial Boards include Atherosclerosis, ATVB and Cardiovascular Research. Prof Newby has been an EAS member for many years and recently served on the Programme Committee for the Helsinki and Gothenburg congresses. He has more than 20 years involvement with the European Society of Cardiology, being a founder member and later Chair of the working group Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis, a member of the Congress Programme Committee and Chairman of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science. He now dedicates himself to running the biennial ESC Summer Schools in Cardiovascular Biology. Perhaps most significantly he re-launched and was President of the European Vascular Biology Organisation from 2006 to 2010. Yury MillerYury MillerYury Miller is Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA. He graduated from the Russian State Medical University in Moscow, Russia, with a degree in laboratory medicine and worked in Tula Regional Hospital. He did his PhD studies with Prof Gennady Dobretsov at the Research Institute for Physical and Chemical Medicine in Moscow, Russia, where he developed new methods to characterize plasma proteins and lipoproteins using proprietary fluorescent probes. Subsequently, he worked with Prof Nurith Shaklai at the Tel Aviv University, Israel, on mechanisms of lipoprotein oxidation induced by heme and hemoglobin. He then joined the laboratory of Prof Joseph Witztum at UC San Diego to investigate the role 12/15-lipoxygenase in lipoprotein oxidation and atherosclerosis. His current research interests include cellular mechanisms of atherogenesis and the role danger-associated molecular patterns play in innate immune responses by vascular cells. He studies signaling mechanisms downstream from toll-like receptors and macrophage responses to oxidized lipoproteins. A recent direction in Miller's lab is the development of a hypercholesterolemic zebrafish model to study lipoprotein oxidation and vascular events relevant to early stages in development of human atherosclerosis. Prof Miller is associate editor for Journal of Lipid Research and on editorial board of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.