With the start of Volume 14 (2022), and after designing, planning, launching, and serving as editor‐in‐chief for this wonderful open‐access journal of the Alzheimer's Association for the past 8 years, I am stepping down from my current position—but I will not be going far. I will be transitioning to the role of editor, and I will support Prof. Liana Apostolova as the next editor‐in‐chief for Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (A&D:DADM). Dr. Apostolova is a distinguished professor of Indiana University School of Medicine, and the Barbara and Peer Baekgaard Professor in Alzheimer's Disease Research, among several other key roles within her home institution. Dr. Apostolova has an impressive international reputation as a leader in our field, and she has distinguished herself as a principal investigator for the current LEADS study and as the director of the Clinical Core for the Alzheimer's Disease Center at Indiana University.
Liana joined the senior leadership team for A&D:DADM about 5 years ago, when the journal was just getting its footing in the field, and well before it grew to its current ranking of 36th out of 348 journals across the broad field of Clinical Neurology (SCOPUS CiteScore ranking for 2019). Although we are still waiting to receive a formal impact Factor (IF) score, which should be available very soon, the journal's current CiteScore for 2020 is a laudable 8.0, due in no small part to the energy, talent, wisdom, and enthusiasm of both Drs. Apostolova and Henrik Zetterberg as editors; Drs. Rich Jones, Brad Dickerson, Sid O'Bryant, Stefan Teipel, and Paul Maruff as senior associate editors; and Dr. Jason Machan as statistical Editor. With the start of this current publication year, we also welcomed Drs. Michal Schnaider‐Beeri, Takeshi Iwatsubo, Niklas Mattsson‐Carlgren, Shannon Risacher, and Sergio Ferreira to our senior leadership team. I am indebted to these talented scholars for working with me to build the journal, and this is my moment to sincerely thank them for their friendship, consistently good advice, and collaboration. Dr. Apostolova has been a truly wonderful colleague and a highly engaged leader for this journal already, and I know that she will continue to improve the journal and its vital role in the field.
I also want to thank my dear mentor, Prof. Zaven Khachaturian, who asked me 8 years ago to take on this wonderful idea of his, as well as Dr. Ara Khachaturian, who has been such a close friend and compatriot. Both Zaven and Ara have stewarded the “parent journal” of the Alzheimer's Association brilliantly, and I have learned much from them both. Additionally, this journal would not be what it is today, or have the impact that it is now having in our field, without the deep support of Drs. Heather Snyder, Maria Carrillo, and their staff at the Alzheimer's Association, as well as the awesome team at Wiley, Inc. Limited space prevents me from thanking so many others individually, but you know who you are and how much I appreciate our work together. I launched into work as a journal editor relatively early in my career, which would not have been possible without the confidence, trust, and support of three early and influential mentors: Professors Lauren Julius Harris, Harry Whitaker, and Sidney J. Segalowitz.
This journal has broken new ground in several respects, and it will continue to do so as we adjust to an increasingly paperless and digital world. A journal like A&D:DADM is poised to take full advantage of multi‐media presentations, to continue to publish controversial and thought‐provoking works alongside open peer commentary, and to respond nimbly to the discovery of new technologies and opportunities to improve the way we diagnose, assess risk, and monitor disease severity for Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative diseases. As I step down to explore new opportunities and challenges, I remain committed to the work we all do to discover and validate interventions and therapeutics to slow progression of this devastating disease; and so, it is with great pleasure that I welcome Liana as our editor‐in‐chief!