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 Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Narla MohandasNarla MohandasDr Narla Mohandas is Vice President for Research and Director of the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute of New York Blood Center, USA. He received his doctoral degree from Washington University in 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 the Department of Laboratory Medicine at University of California, USA, 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 the Human Genome Project for three years. In 2001, he moved to the New York Blood Center, USA. Dr Mohandas’ scientific interests have long 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 anemia, characterizing structural and functional changes induced in red cells by the malarial parasite, plasmodium falciparum. More recently his research efforts are focused on molecular understanding of normal and disordered erythropoiesis including Diamond-Blackfan Anemia and Myelodysplasia. Dr Mohandas served as a member of the National Institute of Health Hematology study section for 13 years and has been a member of numerous committees including the Executive committee of the American Society of Hematology. He served as Associate Editor of Blood from 2003–2012. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Blood Cells, Molecules and Diseases and is on the Editorial Board of Journal of Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry. Thomas F. DeuelThomas F. DeuelThomas F. Deuel, M.D., is Professor of Molecular and Experimental Medicine and Cell Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, USA. He has formally held positions at the University of Chicago, Chicago, USA, Washington University School of Medicine, USA and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. He is a graduate of Princeton University, USA and Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Chicago, USA, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, USA and in hematology/oncology at Barnes Hospital, USA. Dr Deuel trained in research under the mentorship of Charles Huggins at the Ben May Laboratory for Cancer Research, USA, Eugene Kennedy at Harvard Medical School, USA, and Earl Stadtman at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, USA. His early research focused on the purification and biochemical characterization of the platelet secretory proteins platelet factor 4 (PF4) and the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). He established the relationship of platelet secretory proteins as mediators of the inflammatory response and discovered the relationship of PDGF and the v-sis oncogene, opening the field of how oncogenes function in cancer cells. He discovered the downstream functions of PDGF and that PDGF activates its receptor before secretion to stimulate autocrine growth. More recently, he discovered pleiotrophin, described its unique signaling mechanism and its roles in angiogenesis, growth and differentiation, and the progression of human neoplasms. Dr Deuel is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a recipient of the Dameshek Prize and the American Society of Hematology and the Scientific Councils Distinguished Achievement Award. Apart from the Editorial Board of Current Opinion in Hematology, he has been a member of the Editorial Committee of Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Editorial Board of Bio Factors and Circulation, the Editorial Committee of Journal of Clinical Investigation, an Editor of Oncogene Research, and an Associate Editor of Blood.