Abstract
It has been a high honor and privilege to have been entrusted with the stewardship of this prestigious Journal over the past six years. At this point of transition, I wish to acknowledge and express my profound appreciation to those many individuals whose efforts have contributed to sustaining and nurturing the Journal during my tenure as Editor-in-Chief. First, the members of the Editorial Board, comprising an international panel of renowned neuroscientists, have done yeoman's service as reviewers, adjudicators, and advisors. They have been enormously aided in their task by the expertise and enthusiasm of the Journal's many external reviewers, who are listed and acknowledged elsewhere in this issue. My Miami colleagues, the Assistant Editors, have lightened the daily burden of the Editorial Office: Mordecai Y.-T. Globus prior to his untimely death in April, 1996, W. Dalton Dietrich, and Carol K. Petito.
A special expression of appreciation is due Ms. Helen Valkowitz, my devoted administrative assistant, who has brought her customary sense of impeccable responsibility and dedication to the day-to-day management of the Editorial Office over the past half-year. The Publication Committee of the Journal's parent society, the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, and its past and current chairmen, Professors Martin Reivich and Wolf-Dieter Heiss, have ably supported the Journal in its mission.
The Journal itself has undergone many transitions over the past six years. Bimonthly in 1991, it became monthly in 1997, and the resulting expansion in its page allotment has already reduced the acceptance-to-publication delay considerably. Rapid Communications were introduced in 1993 as a means of expediting the review and publication of articles of particular originality and timeliness. State-of-the-art review articles were reinstituted as a regular feature of the Journal earlier this year and, under the continued guidance of Dr. I. Mhairi Macrae, the Review Editor, are expected to appear in virtually each issue within the near future. Throughout this period, the Journal's scientific impact factor has remained outstanding.
Transitions have also occurred at the publisher. Raven Press has become Lippincott-Raven. Ms. Nancy Megley, our current Publisher, and Ms. Denise Martin, our Journal's Production Editor, are to be recognized for their supportive and understanding interactions with the Editor and the Editorial Office.
James McCulloch, Professor of Neuroscience at the Wellcome Surgical Institute, University of Glasgow, has been selected by the Society to become its next Editor-in-Chief. Professor McCulloch is no stranger to the Society or to the readship of this Journal: He has been, for a period longer than his youthful demeanor belies, a distinguished contributor to the field of cerebral metabolism and vasoregulation, and he has served the Society with exceptional devotion as its Secretary for many years. As our discipline continues to be invigorated by astonishing advances in molecular and cellular neurobiology, pharmacotherapeutics, and functional neuroimaging, the coming years are likely to be exhilirating ones for the Journal. We wish Professor McCulloch every success in his new role.