In the second half of 2021, we are pleased to introduce two new initiatives at the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology (AJP-Lung), both of which aim to promote the professional development of early career members of the APS who are studying the respiratory system and represent our newest generation of physiologists.
The first of these initiatives, the Editorial Board Fellowship Program (EBFP), provides dedicated mentoring of early career APS members who are postdoctoral researchers, physicians in the Fellowship stage of training, or junior faculty up to and including the Assistant Professor level (1). One-on-one mentoring of Fellows, which is conducted over a period of 1 year, is directly undertaken by one of our Editors. The selection process for the 2021 round of EBFP applications was completed in August 2021, and our Editors congratulate our 2021 Fellows (Fig. 1): Drs. Jana Grune, Brandon Lewis, Elena Lopez-Rodriguez, Mark McVey, Jamie Meegan, Paula Rodriguez Miguelez, Jacelyn Peabody Lever, Thien-Khoi Phung, Bradley Richmond, and Kent Willis. Brief biographical information about each applicant has been provided at our Journal’s social media facilities on Twitter (@AJPLung). The Fellows began their 1-year term on September 1, 2021. Once the EBFP is completed, Fellows will have acquired detailed knowledge about editorial processing of manuscripts and the peer review process at our Journal and developed their skills in composing thoughtful, constructive, and fair reviews. This experience will prove valuable to early career members in the subsequent preparation of their own manuscripts and will broadly contribute to an expanded pool of quality peer reviewers among our community of physiologists. Furthermore, selected Fellows will be invited to join our Editorial Board and may later be recruited as the next generation of Associate Editors for our Journal.
Figure 1.
The 2021 AJP-Lung Editorial Board Fellows. The 10 AJP-Lung Editorial Board Fellows selected in 2021 are (in alphabetical order, by surname): Dr. Jana Grune (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany), Dr. Brandon Lewis (Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio), Dr. Elena Lopez-Rodriguez (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany), Dr. Mark McVey (The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada), Dr. Jamie Meegan (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN), Dr. Paula Rodriguez Miguelez (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA), Dr. Jacelyn Peabody Lever (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL), Dr. Thien-Khoi Phung (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA), Dr. Bradley Richmond (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN), and Dr. Kent Willis (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL).
The second of these new initiatives is a dedicated space within the pages of AJP-Lung that will highlight the newest members of the respiratory physiology field, who will be invited to contribute Research Articles, Mini-Reviews, Reviews, and Editorial Focus articles to our Journal. These articles will be published under the heading “Next Generation Physiologist Highlights,” in both our Table of Contents and on the manuscript title page. The term “Next Generation Physiologist Highlights” has been selected to reflect that our early career members are charged with the enormously important task of taking up and carrying forward the physiology torch for our field, strengthening the discipline, and inspiring future generations of scientists as they do so. Indeed, these early career physiologists represent the pool from which our next generation of leaders in the physiology arena will emerge, and represent a succession strategy that will ensure the long-term quality of research published in our Journal. Both the “Next Generation Physiologist Highlights” authors themselves, and the scientific content of their articles, will be featured at our Journal’s social media accounts on Twitter (@AJPLung) and Facebook (@AJPLung).
The launch of both of these initiatives constitutes part of a broader strategy in place at the journals of the American Physiological Society to promote our early career members, to maintain an exemplary standard of peer review that is supported by an integrated succession plan, and to recruit and engage a diverse and inclusive pool of editors, authors, and peer reviewers (2–7). As Editors at AJP-Lung, we are excited to work with our early career members to continue to champion these principles and advance the field of respiratory physiology.
GRANTS
L.A.S. is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Grants R01 HL073859 and R01 HL159906. C.F.-B. is supported by the NIH through NHLBI Grants R01 HL133751, R01 HL121262, and R01 HL153195, and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Grant K24 AR060297. J.A.B. is supported by the NIH through NHLBI Grant NR35HL144899, the Department of Veterans Affairs through IO1 BX002288, and the Department of Defense through PR171143P1. S.J.G. is supported by the NIH through NHLBI Grant R01 HL029289. W.M.K. is supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; DFG) through SFB-TR84, SFB1449, Ku1218/9-1, Ku1218/11-1; the German Ministry for Research and Education (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; BMBF) through PROVID and SYMPATH; the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Herz- und Kreislaufforschung; DZHK), and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH). R.E.M. is supported by the University of Heidelberg, the Max Planck Society (MPI-HLR), the German Center for Lung Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung; DZL) through DZL-UGMLC and DZL-TLRC; and the DFG through EXC2026 [390649896], SFB1213 [268555672], KFO309 [284237345], Mo1789/1-1 [160966624], and Mo1789/4-1 [420759458].
DISCLOSURES
L. A. Shimoda is Deputy Editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. C. Bai, N. W. Bartlett, J. A. Bastarache, C. Feghali-Bostwick, S .J. Gunst, W. M. Kuebler, and E. P. Schmidt are Associate Editors of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. R. E. Morty is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. All Editors are compensated by the American Physiological Society for their services.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
L.A.S., C.B., N.W.B., J.A.B., C.F.-B., S.J.G., W.M.K., E.P.S., and R.E.M. drafted manuscript; edited and revised manuscript; and approved final version of manuscript.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Michael A. Pogachar, Managing Editor, AJP-Cell Physiology and AJP-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the American Physiological Society (APS), for the preparation of the artwork in Fig. 1. The authors also thank the representatives of five APS committees for valuable participation in our EBFP Selection Committee: Dr. Di Feng (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; representing the APS Women in Physiology Committee), Dr. Karla K. V. Haack (Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA; representing the APS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee), Dr. Jasna Markovac (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; representing the APS Publications Committee), Dr. Thiago S. Moreira (Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; representing the APS International Committee), and Dr. Lila B. Wollman (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; representing the APS Trainee Advisory Committee).
REFERENCES
- 1.Shimoda LA, Bai C, Bartlett NW, Bastarache JA, Feghali-Bostwick CA, Kuebler WM, Prakash YS, Schmidt EP, Morty RE. Announcing the Editorial Board Fellowship Program of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 321: L116–L118, 2021. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00239.2021. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Bates ML, Haack KKV. Everyone must be able to breathe: a plan to support diversity and inclusion in respiratory physiology. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 319: L159–L162, 2020. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00269.2020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Bodine SC, Morty RE. World Lung Day 2020 at the Journal of Applied Physiology and the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 319: L534–L537, 2020. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00371.2020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Lindsey ML, Kassiri Z, Hansell Keehan K, Brunt KR, Carter JR, Kirk JA, Kleinbongard P, LeBlanc AJ, Ripplinger CM. We are the change we seek. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 320: H1411–H1414, 2021. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00090.2021. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Samson WK. Looking back on seven years of regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 318: R565–R566, 2020. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00017.2020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Stachenfeld NS. Women leading in the Environmental and Exercise Physiology Section of the American Physiological Society: better late than never. J Appl Physiol (1985) 127: 893, 2019. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00295.2019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Yosten GLC, Adams JC, Bennett CN, Bunnett NW, Scheman R, Sigmund CD, Yates BJ, Zucker IH, Samson WK. Revised guidelines to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of research published in American Physiological Society journals. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 315: R1251–R1253, 2018. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00274.2018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
