Societies,Makeovers,and Awards

O n September 1, 2007, Human Gene Therapy affiliated with the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, which was a seminal event in this journal's distinguished history. Building on the success of this relationship, Human Gene Therapy subsequently established formal affiliations with many of the national European gene therapy societies including the British Society for Gene Therapy, the French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, the Irish Society for Gene & Cell Therapy, the Israeli Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, the Spanish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and the German Society for Gene Therapy. I want to personally thank the presidents of the respective societies for their support in forging these new relationships. This network of affiliations represents an important venue for addressing issues of strategic importance to the entire field which can be communicated through this journal. Ideas regarding commentaries, editorials, and reviews are most welcome and should be directed to the presidents of the affiliated societies or to me (wilsonjm@mail.med.upenn.edu).

We felt it was time for Human Gene Therapy to have a makeover, which has begun in this issue with the inclusion of two new monthly features called “The Digest” and “The Wire.” “The Digest” features several papers from that issue that are of high impact and/or of broad interest. “The Wire” highlights recent events of interest to the gene therapy community in the areas of clinical trials, industry, patents, science, and technology. Any new developments that may be appropriate for “The Wire” should be directed to our newly appointed Scientific News Editors, Drs. Sadik Kassim and Luk Vandenberghe, who can be reached at HGTnewswire@liebertpub.com. Stay tuned for a number of other makeovers including the rollout of a restructured editorial board.

Finally, I am proud to announce an important honor bestowed on this journal by the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Association on the occasion of their centennial celebration. Human Gene Therapy was named one of the 100 most influential journals in biology and medicine over the last 100 years, joining an elite group that includes Science, Nature, Cell, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Congratulations to our publisher Mary Ann Liebert and the founding editors—French Anderson, Claudio Bordignon, and Dusty Miller—for their vision in launching Human Gene Therapy almost 20 years ago. My thanks go out to the scientists who have supported this journal as editors, reviewers, and authors over the last 14 years during my tenure as associate editor and then as editor-in-chief.