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Cover of the first issue of JNIP. |
The “Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology,” or JNIP, a quarterly scholarly journal first published last month, will fill a void in current scientific literature, said Howard Gendelman, M.D., the journal’s editor-in-chief and chairman of UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience. The new journal is the official academic journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP). Springer Publishing Co. is its publisher.
“JNIP will become a conduit for communications and education within this burgeoning field,” Dr. Gendelman said. “We will report research discoveries that cross the traditional boundaries of immunology, neuroscience and pharmacology. A focus on interdisciplinary research to better understand neuroimmune pathways in disease and for treatment of neurologic, neuropsychiatric and neuroimmune disorders is our charge. We are honored that SNIP has chosen us to represent the Journal, that we have such a terrific publisher as Springer in support of this work, and to our University, which has allowed this initiative to prosper.”
Robin Taylor, project coordinator and an eight-year veteran in Dr. Gendelman’s office, is the journal’s managing editor. A platform of timely reviews, scientific debates and meeting proceedings highlight the initial offerings while original research articles will be published beginning later this year, Taylor said.
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Howard Gendelman, M.D. |
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Robin Taylor |
Robert Donahoe, Ph.D., president of SNIP, said that the journal publication is a promising step for the society, which has intentions of growing into an international organization and a leader in biomedical research.
“Neuroimmune pharmacology is an emerging, interdisciplinary scientific field with tremendous potential for growth,” said Dr. Donahoe, professor in the Department of Pathology and Chief of the Laboratory of Psychoimmunology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. “The field is in its infancy as a combined discipline. Our society’s goal is to find better ways to manipulate the neuroimmune system, through the use of the best medications and delivery techniques, to the greatest advantage for patients. It’s been a great pleasure to work with Dr. Gendelman on this project. His efforts and that of his staff have been simply outstanding. The journal is very promising for the society and for our specific scientific field.”
Andrea Macaluso, senior publishing editor of biosciences at Springer, said that the publisher is “delighted that the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology and Dr. Howard Gendelman have given us the opportunity to work with them in the publication of their premiere journal.
“We look forward to working with not only the Society and the Editorial Team in general, but also particularly with Dr. Gendelman and his team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center,” Macaluso said. “Dr. Gendelman is a scientific heavyweight who has been key in creating this instrument of scientific communication. We are delighted to call someone of his caliber our editor-in-chief. We at Springer are confident that the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, led by this extraordinary team of experts in the field, will change the face of science.”
Dr. Gendelman recruited Thomas Rogers, Ph.D., an immunologist and professor at the Temple University School of Medicine, as the journal’s associate editor. Specifically, Dr. Rogers is professor in the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology and a senior investigator in the Center for Substance Abuse Research. Recently, he also was chosen as SNIP’s president-elect by the SNIP membership.
“I would like to thank Dr. Gendelman and Robin Taylor for their very determined and generous efforts to make the Journal of NeuroImmune Pharmacology a very solid success,” Dr. Rogers said. “This has come in a very short time, and I see a very bright future for the journal.”
The new journal, Dr. Gendelman said, is a testament to the terrific work that UNMC is doing in developing the area of neuroimmune pharmacology. In all, the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience has 26 faculty with an array of research interests, including interdisciplinary programs in neuroimaging, proteomics, molecular genetics and neuroprotective vaccines.
“This is the society’s journal, but our faculty and staff involvement in its publication is a major coup for the department and for UNMC. It shows the amount of respect that we have among our peers throughout the nation and around the world,” Dr. Gendelman said.
Although drugs of abuse and brain-immune interactions will be the foci of the journal, the journal will have a broad, interactive scope with contributions on infectious diseases, cancer, immunity and pharmacology, together with neurotrophic and immunoregulatory factors that affect the nervous and immune systems. A developing focus includes vaccine and immune modulatory treatments for spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and stroke.
“These are new avenues of therapeutics,” Dr. Gendelman said. “Overall the future in this field is bright and the opportunity to be engaged in such a significant endeavor is very exciting.”
For more on the Society of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, visit its Web site at www.s-nip.org.