With the first issue of 2010, volume 103, the successful tenure of Klaus T. Preissner as the Editor-in-Chief of Thrombosis and Haemostasis over the past seven years has come to a worthy close. While he continues to serve as a Section Editor, his dedicated service and continuous hard work for the journal have earned him a well deserved rest from his Editor-in-Chief duties. As Editor-in-Chief, Klaus Preissner was devoted to providing the best quality of science to reflect a balanced selection of basic and clinical research in the field for the readership of this journal. He has been thoughtful and impeccable in his decisions, has extended the borders to many other aspects of vascular biology and medicine, and has achieved a remarkable turn-around and steady increase of the journal’s impact factor rising to 3.803 in 2008. Recognising the increasingly broad remit of the world of thrombosis and vascular biology, he introduced a Deputy Editor-in-Chief responsible for clinical studies in 2008. Theme issues on ‘highlight topics’ have been introduced (1–3), and links with the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Thrombosis, and – more recently – with the Italian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (SISET) have been established. One of the recent outputs of the link with the ESC Working Group on Thrombosis, is the publication of an important consensus document on the management of anticoagulated atrial fibrillation patients who present with an acute coronary syndrome and/or undergo percutaneous coronary intervention/stenting (4; in this issue). Thus, Klaus Preissner has truly been an innovator for the journal. He will continue to be Chairman and Head of the Institute of Biochemistry at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, as well as being a spokesman and constructive referee of several research programs funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Thus, we pay our tribute to Klaus Preissner for his outstanding service to the journal and its readership. It is an honour for us to follow in his footsteps in striving to extend and promote the journal’s influence in the scientific community. In 2010, Thrombosis and Haemostasis moves forward with two Editors-in-Chief, one responsible for basic sciences (Christian Weber) and one for clinical studies (Gregory Lip). This will further emphasise the dual focus on basic and clinical research of the journal. With the appointment of Walter Ageno, Robert Andrews, George Breier, Catherine Hayward, Bernd Jilma, Francois Mach, Bernhard Nieswandt and David Varon as new Section Editors – who now cover a broad spectrum of research fields related to angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, platelet and coagulation disorders and vascular pathobiology, as well as clinical pharmacology – this clearly complements, strengthens and widens the current scope of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. We also thank our recently retired editorial board members, for all their hard work and dedication to the journal. What will 2010 bring? With regard to theme issues in basic science, we will continue to feature focussed review articles as Correspondence to: Prof. C. Weber Institut fur Molekulare Herz-Kreislaufforschung Universitatsklinikum Aachen Pauwelsstr. 30, 52072 Aachen, Germany Tel.: +49 241 808 8692, Fax: +49 241 808 2716 E-mail: cweber@ukaachen.de