Note from the Editor-in-Chief

Abstract

In October 2006, the State of the Science Conference sponsored by the American Burn Association, Shriners Hospital for Children, Department of Defense - U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, the Veterans Administration, the National Institutes for the General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research was held in Washington, DC. The purpose of this conference was to gain a better understanding of what was known, as well as unknown, about the critical aspects of acute and rehabilitative burn care. The overall goal was to construct a research agenda for burn research for the next decade. The lead organizers of that conference, Dr. Tina Palmieri and Dr. Matthew Klein, have served as guest editors for this issue of the Journal of Burn Care and Research. In this issue we present papers presented at the State of the Science meeting. These reports cover topics ranging from organization of multicenter clinical trials, the molecular changes associated with burn injury, the pathobiology of scar formation, emotional outcomes and psychological health, the reintegration of the burn patient back into the community, and the perspectives and comments from burn survivors. The publication of new knowledge is necessary if we are to move the field forward and is aptly highlighted by the outstanding series of articles that Drs. Palmieri and Klein have brought us in the issue of the Journal. As the Editor-in-Chief, I could not be more supportive of this conference, its output, or more delighted with what you will find presented here as a reader of the Journal. To my mind in a relatively concise fashion some of the world's experts have covered a broad range of important topics that all healthcare burn professionals need know to better understand the current status of burn research and the challenges that lie ahead. Drs. Klein and Palmieri have done an outstanding job not only in the organization of the original conference but now equally so in bringing us this information for all to read. Our goal is and will continue to be for each of you in your own important way to continue to make contributions to better the lives of burn patients and the field of burn care and research.