Abstract
When I received the call to be the new Editor-in-Chief of ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, I was delighted to accept. Under the leadership of Andrew Napper and Jim Inglese before him, ASSAY is a well-known and well-read international publication that focuses on new methods and technologies for drug discovery. Although Andrew's departure was bittersweet, his guidance and leadership have been immeasurable to me in this time of transition. Everyone at ASSAY wishes Andrew well in his new position at FLX Bio, Inc. His continued participation on the editorial board shows his commitment to the ASSAY family. As a new member of this family, I am inspired by the dedication to success everyone has shown.
As with any scientific publication, we are nothing without the generous support and time of everyone associated with ASSAY. We are grateful for the contributions of our special issues editors, Dr. Hermann Mucke, Editor, Drug Repurposing, Rescue and Repositioning (DRRR) and Dr. Kaylene Simpson, Editor, Society for Biomedical Imaging and Informatics (SBI2). Drs. Michelle Arkin, Haian Fu, and Thomas Lundbäck serve as Associate Editors and we value their expertise and input. Drs. Doug Auld and Anton Simeonov will continue as Literature Editors, and will continue to produce the popular “Literature Search and Review.”
Finally, Sophie Mohin, Vicki Cohn, Heather Malloy, and others “behind the scenes” at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. provide the support and guidance essential for success.
I want to extend my sincere thanks to the members of the editorial board for their support through reviewing articles and providing expertise on a variety of drug discovery topics. I also want to thank our reviewer base, which continues to improve the scientific strength and quality of the journal with every review. With a new editor-in-chief comes the potential to expand the reviewer pool to include bright, new scientists as well as established investigators, and ASSAY has already benefitted in this way. The service reviewers provide to the journal is invaluable.
This issue of ASSAY consists of original research articles covering a range of topics, including cosolvent effects on fragment-based drug design in dihydrofolate reductase inhibition; HTS assay using nonradioactive rubidium flux technology for NKCC1 cotransporters, and the analytical characterization of methyl-β-cyclodextrins to reduce cholesterol accumulation in Niemann-Pick Type C1 disease. An additional technical report covering the high-throughput phenotyping of human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and neurons using electric field stimulation and high-speed fluorescence imaging is featured as well.
Finally, I am delighted to announce that in the coming year, ASSAY will host a special topic issue that covers new drug development technologies for neglected tropical diseases, and an issue devoted to autism drug development to coincide with Autism Awareness month. We look forward to recruiting guest editors for these issues to bring their unique perspectives in the field to ASSAY's pages.
The next year at ASSAY promises to be bright and to lay the foundation for continued success in the future.