EBM and SEBM Inaugurates its African Global Editor and Office

Comments from the EBM Editor-in-Chief

When I was interviewed to become the Editor-in-Chief of EBM in 2006, I told the SEBM Council of my plans to globalize Experimental Biology and Medicine, and by virtue of doing so would globalize the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Thankfully the SEBM Council was supportive of this plan, and we began our expansion beyond the borders of the United States. We opened our first EBM/SEBM Global Office at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan in January 2008 with Dr. Huan-Yao Lei as our initial Asian Global Editor and Dr. Sean Tsai as the current Editor. In July 2008, we established our European EBM/SEBM Office at Kings College London, with Dr. Farzin Farzaneh as our European Global Editor. SEBM/EBM opened a China Outreach Office in 2013, at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In 2015, that Office was moved to Sichuan University, West China Hospital and Dr. James Kang became our Executive Director of that Office. Our first Latin America EBM/SEBM Global Office was established in Brazil at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in June 2018. Dr. Nicola Conran became our first EBM Latin America Global Editor.

I was very excited as I boarded my flight headed to Ghana, West Africa, in July 2019. I was traveling to open our first EBM/SEBM Africa Global Office at the University of Ghana and to inaugurate our first EBM Africa Global Editor: Prof. Gordon Awandare. Gordon is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology at University of Ghana. He became the Founding Director of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at University of Ghana in 2014. Gordon established a WACCBIP Research Conference on Infectious Diseases which attracts speakers from across Africa, as well as Global experts in this field. I had the great pleasure to attend this three day Research Conference where I presented a talk on SEBM and EBM, followed by an Inauguration Ceremony for our EBM Africa Global Editor. I witnessed many outstanding presentations and learned a great deal about Infectious Diseases that impact the globe. For me the highlight of the Conference was the oral and poster presentations by the WACCBIP graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Since 2014 Gordon and his colleagues have trained and mentored more than 200 African graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

Gordon was a great host for my first trip to Africa. He also did an outstanding job of orchestrating the 2019 WACCBIP Research Conference. I was joined in Ghana by our EBM European Global Editor: Dr. Farzin Farzaneh. Farzin, Gordon and I are seen above, standing outside the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana.

Thirteen years from accepting the role as Editor-in-Chief of EBM, with the opening of our EBM/SEBM African Office at the University of Ghana, we now are a Journal and Society with EBM/SEBM Offices on five continents. Great research progress requires integrating the work of a global scientific community and building bridges between scientists. EBM is playing its part in this quest.

Comments from the EBM Africa Global Editor

Once I had the opportunity to speak with Steve about his vision for EBM/SEBM, it become immediately clear that the journal shared our values and I was honored to represent it on the African continent. WACCBIP represents the future of basic biomedical science in Africa, and I am glad we have a partner in EBM/SEBM, which offers a great opportunity for African scientists to publish their research to a global audience and establish collaborations through these platforms. We have a core team that will work with me to make the EBM African Office vibrant and attract more members into SEBM in due course.