AJP-Lung Editor's report March 2015

Editors report updated on march 27 2015 2 from amcever

Behind the scenes at AJP-Lung

Ellyn Kestnbaum, AJP-Lung Journal Supervisor

Ellyn Kestnbaum has worked for the APS Editorial Department since 1999 and has been the Journal Supervisor for AJP-Lung since 2011. Her credentials are simply impeccable: She has a B.A. in English and Theatre from Wesleyan University, M.F.A. in Drama (directing) from Catholic University of America, and Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama (theory and criticism) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ellyn has directed plays and musicals in academic and community theatre. She is an adult figure skating and a regional figure skating judge.

Her dissertation was published as Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning in 2003 by Wesleyan University Press.

During this last year, Ellyn spent long hours copy-editing manuscripts and reviews in record time so they could be published in 2014.  She is always pleasant, professional and very efficient.  She is simply a pleasure to work with and has contributed greatly to the success of AJP-Lung in the last four years.  Thank you Ellyn.

Sadis Matalon, Ph.D. Dr.Sc. (Hon.)

Editor-in-Chief

Events at EB 2015

Please follow the link below to find out all the notable events happening at EB 2015.

APS Respiration Section Newsletter

Safe travels to Boston!

Hermann Rahn Award Winner - Dr. Eleftheria Letsiou

Congratulations to  Dr. Eleftheria Letsiou for being the recipient of one of the three Hermann Rahn awards for 2015.  Dr. Letsiou is a postdoctoral research associate in the Division of Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  She was nominated by her mentor Dr. Steven M. Dudek for her paper Differential and opposing effects of imatinib on LPS- and ventilator-induced lung injury.  Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2015 Feb 1;308(3):L259-69, PMID: 25480336.  Eleftheria utilized preclinical mouse models to demonstrate that imatinib (an FDA-approved Abl kinases inhibitor) protects against endotoxin-induced ALI, but it conversely exacerbates ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI).  this study is the first to demonstrate Abl inhibition by imatinib exerts both endothelial barrier protection and anti-inflammatory effects in murine ALI.

Sadis Matalon, Ph.D., Dr.Sc. (Hon.)

Editor-in-Chief

 

Dr. Shampa Chatterjee- Hermann Rahn Award winner

Congratulations to  Dr. Shampa Chatterjee for being the recipient of one of the three Hermann Rahn awards in 2015.  Dr. Chatterjee is Assistant Professor of Physiology and is associated with the Institute For Environmental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  She was nominated by Dr. Jahar Bhattacharya and Dr. Nilam Mangalmurti for her paper  NOX2 in lung inflammation: quantum dot based in situ imaging of NOX2-mediated expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1.  Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2014 Feb;306(3):L260-8, PMID:23475902.  In this paper they used VCAM-targeted QDs in a mouse model to show that endothelial NADPH oxidase-2  induces VCAM expression with lung inflammation in vivo. This was the first report to highlight the key role of endothelial NADPH oxidase in the onset of inflammation.  In addition, she used a novel method (quantum dots coupled to antibodies against adhesion molecules) for the detection of adhesion molecules to lung endothelial cells.

Sadis Matalon, Ph.D., Sc.Dr. (Hon.)

Editor-in-Chief

Congratulations to Hannah Nickles, DVM

Congratulations to Hannah Nickles, DVM for being the recipient of one of the three Hermann Rahn awards for 2014.  Dr. Nickles is a PhD candidate in the Charité – Universitätsmedizin,  Berlin and was nominated by her mentor, Dr. Wolfgang M. Kübler for her paper “Mechanical ventilation causes airway distension with pro-inflammatory sequelae in mice” Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2014 Jul 1;307(1):L27-37.  In this paper she demonstrates that Airway distension triggers pro-inflammatory responses and may thus contribute relevantly to ventilator-induced pathologies.  Her paper is one of the Featured Articles in AJP-Lung (http://ajplung.physiology.org/)

Call for Papers: Bioengineering the Lung: Molecules, Materials, Matrix, Morphology, and Mechanics

The American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology is seeking manuscripts that highlight new scientific advances in key concepts and challenges to the design, implementation and utilization of engineered lung tissue for transplantation. Basic, translational, and clinical research papers as well as review articles will be considered, especially those focusing on these specific concepts: 1) Biocompatible Scaffolds and Mechanisms of Cellularization; 2) Mechanical Forces; 3) Graft Vascularization; and 4) Immune Responses to Bioengineered Lung Tissues.

All papers will be reviewed promptly, thoroughly, and fairly by members of the Editorial Board and guest reviewers who are recognized experts in this field. Accepted manuscripts will be published under a distinct heading and will receive special attention and handling. Only those papers not requiring extensive revision will be published under this call. If you currently have a manuscript on this topic that has already been submitted and would like it to be included in this Special Call, please contact Dr. Sadis Matalon, Editor-in-Chief via e-mail at sadis@uab.edu.

For additional details of this Special Call for Papers, please see the Editorial by Drs. Prakash and Stenmark  

http://ajplung.physiology.org/content/early/2012/01/17/ajplung.00020.2012

The deadline for this Call for Papers is December 31, 2015

Call for Papers- Real Time Visualization of Lung Function: from Micro to Macro

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in imaging physiological processes in the lung in real time, and several notable advances have been made, which have been facilitated by new methodological approaches, novel microscopic and radiological imaging technologies, as well as the development of genetically modified animal models that facilitate imaging approaches. The pressing need for further advances in the development or refinement of experimental approaches for the real-time assessment of lung structure and function, together with an explosion of interest in this area of pre-clinical and clinical pulmonary research, has prompted this Special Call for Papers on "Real-time Visualization of Lung Function: from Micro to Macro" from the American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.  

All papers will be reviewed promptly, thoroughly, and fairly by members of the Editorial Board and guest reviewers who are recognized experts in this field. Accepted manuscripts will be published on line within two weeks after acceptance under a distinct heading and will receive special attention and handling. Only those papers not requiring extensive revision will be published under this Highlighted Topic. 

The deadline for this Call for Papers is December 31, 2015

For more details see the editorial by Drs. Morty and Matalon (http://ajplung.physiology.org/content/early/2012/10/11/ajplung.00279.2012).

Call for Papers- Biomarkers in Lung Diseases

Biomarkers in Lung Diseases: from Pathogenesis to Prediction to New Therapies

The study of protein, lipid, genetic, and genomic biomarkers of lung disease is an important tool for understanding the biology of human lung disease.  Both candidate biomarker approaches and high dimensional platforms can provide new insights into pathogenesis and confirmation of the clinical relevance of experimental findings.  In recognition of the central role that biomarker research plays in bridging basic and clinical research in human lung disease, the American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology is issuing a call for papers on the topic of “Biomarkers in Lung Disease: from Pathogenesis to Prediction”. This call for papers requests high-quality studies of human disease biomarkers in patient samples and tissues that enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of human lung diseases such as Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Acute Lung Injury, COPD, Acute Lung Injury and Lung Cancer. A number of reviews by experts in the field will also be solicited. 

All papers will be reviewed promptly, thoroughly, and fairly by members of the Editorial Board and guest reviewers who are recognized experts in this field. Accepted manuscripts will be published on line within two weeks after acceptance under a distinct heading and will receive special attention and handling. Only those papers not requiring extensive revision will be published under this Highlighted Topic. 

The deadline for this Call for Papers is December 31, 2015

Winner of the “best original research paper published in AJP-Lung between 2012-2014 by a junior author”

The Editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, solicited nominations for the “best original research paper published in AJP-Lung between 2012-2014 by a junior author” (Assistant Professor, Instructor, Post-doctoral fellow or graduate student.)

We received five nominations and in each case the paper and nominee were truly outstanding.  The selection was made by secret ballot:  All of the Associate Editors of AJP-Lung read the papers and letters of nominations and ranked each nominee from the scale of one (perfect to five.)

The 2015 winner is Dr. Praveen Mannam (nominated by Dr. Patty Lee, from the Pulmonary Division of Yale University) for his paper:

MKK3 regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy in sepsis-induced

lung injury.   Mannam P et al.  Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2014 Apr 1;306(7):L604-19. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00272.2013. Epub 2014 Jan 31.

In his paper, Praveen identified for the first time MKK3 as a potential therapeutic target in sepsis. He used complementary murine models of sepsis (LPS and cecal ligation puncture) and confirmed his findings in circulating cells from septic patients to demonstrate that the deleterious effect of over-activated MKK3 in sepsis is through its effects on mitochondrial protein Pink1. Prior to these studies, a MKK3-mitochondria link had not been described and Pink1 had been reported primarily in neuronal tissue. These studies have led to partnerships with Yale Small Molecule Center and Evotec, a drug-discovery company, which have yielded first-in-class MKK3 small molecule inhibitors that Praveen is now in the process of testing in experimental sepsis models.  Praveen is currently an Assistant Professor in the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at Yale University

This article is one of our featured articles in the AJP-Lung Website (http://ajplung.physiology.org)

and was also chosen for inclusion by the APS Publications committee in APSselect http://apsselect.physiology.org/archives-2014#january-february; May 2014 issue)

Dr. Mannam will receive $500 and a certificate of appreciation at the EB 2015 meeting following the Comroe Lecture (Tuesday, March 31 at 10:30 AM Room 210A)