Say hello, wave goodbye

We recently surveyed some of our community to find out how they go about choosing which journal to submit their work to and what factors drive this decision. There was one message that stood out: reputation. This – the importance of journal reputation – is also evident in interviews with first authors who publish with us (see Box 1). We are proud of our reputation and, in line with this, we are pleased that the cell biology community sees JCS as a reputable and respected journal.

The reputation of a journal is based on the quality of the science it publishes, which in turn depends on its editors and input from the reviewers they select. On this note, I would like to thank all our editors and reviewers for their commitment to the journal. Over the 150 years since the journal has been running (https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/about#History), we have had an excellent stream of editors and reviewers who, together, have contributed to the success of the journal. I would especially like to thank Maria Carmo-Fonseca (2009), David Glover (1992) and Arnoud Sonnenberg (2005) who have now decided to step down. As you will see from the dates after their names, Carmo, David and Arnoud have dedicated many years of service to the journal, working with authors and reviewers to ensure we always publish quality science and support the cell biology community. They have also provided me with great advice and insight at editors' meetings and I am sad to see them leave. However, it is a bittersweet moment, as it gives me the opportunity to welcome three new editors – Megan King, Renata Basto and Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke – who will continue to ensure JCS publishes cutting edge cell biology that the community wants to read.

Megan King, who has expertise in nuclear pores, nuclear organization, nuclear integrity, nuclear mechanics, chromatin structure and dynamics, will be replacing Maria Carmo-Fonseca. Megan received her B.A. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University and her PhD. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania. During her postdoctoral training with Günter Blobel at Rockefeller University, she discovered new mechanisms for the targeting and function of integral inner nuclear membrane proteins. Since joining the Cell Biology Department at the Yale School of Medicine in 2009, Megan has continued to investigate the broad array of biological functions that are integrated at the nuclear envelope, from genome integrity to nuclear mechanics to mechanotransduction. In 2018, she teamed up with Patrick Lusk and now co-leads the joint LusKing Lab, which focuses on nuclear mechanics, dynamics and quality control. Megan is a past recipient of the New Innovator Award and was named a Searle Scholar and an Allen Distinguished Investigator.

David Glover will be replaced by Renata Basto, who will take on the handling of papers concerning the cell cycle, centrosomes, chromosomes, mitosis, genetic instability, mitotic spindle, microtubules, aneuploidy and polyploidy. Renata completed her undergraduate studies in Genetics and Microbiology at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon in Portugal. Her thesis work, under the supervision of Roger Karess and Rui Gomes, focussed on studying the metaphase-to-anaphase transition in Drosophila to identify novel components of the spindle assembly checkpoint. She then moved to the University of Cambridge to work with Jordan Raff at the Gurdon Institute on the consequences of centrosome number alterations during fly development. At the end of 2008, Renata was recruited as a Junior Group Leader in the Cell Biology department of the Institut Curie in Paris, France, as a CNRS researcher. Work in the Basto lab uses a variety of model systems such as Drosophila, mouse, cultured human cells and tissues, and ovarian cancers to address the molecular mechanisms that, in response to centrosome or chromosome number deviations, perturb development and lead to loss of genetic stability.

Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke will be taking over from Arnoud Sonnenberg and will handle manuscripts concerning integrins, cell adhesion, blood vessels, angiogenesis, angiocrine and pericrine signalling, the tumour microenvironment, cancer progression and mouse models of cancer. Kairbaan obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology at Southampton University, UK, and then obtained a PhD from The ICRF in London, UK, focusing on cell adhesion and skin cancer, under the supervision of Fiona Watt. She then carried out postdoctoral training with Richard Hynes at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, working on in vivo models of cell adhesion in blistering diseases, platelet biology and angiogenesis. Kairbaan has been a Laboratory Head at Barts Cancer Institute since 2004. In 2015, she was awarded the Hooke Medal by the British Society of Cell Biology. She is also an Elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and an Elected Fellow of The Academy of Medical Science (FMedSci). Her lab currently focuses on tumour blood vessels, angiocrine and paracrine signalling, the tumour microenvironment and cancer progression.

I look forward to working with Megan, Renata and Kairbaan to ensure JCS maintains its reputation as a journal that supports the cell biology community and publishes exciting research. As we strive to support the community, I hope you will help us in our efforts by submitting your new and exciting cell biology papers to JCS (rather than sending them to journals that only care about taking your money)!