The changing of the guard in a new era

First and foremost, I want to congratulate Dr. Phil Brunell on a marvelous run as the Chief Medical Editor of Infectious Diseases in Children and his many contributions over the years to our profession in pediatric infectious diseases.

My first encounter with Phil was a phone call as a second-year pediatric resident. He was calling to offer me an interview for a fellowship in his program in San Antonio. I was impressed with his collegial but direct approach. It was obvious that he was a very articulate and learned physician. I remain impressed with his inquisitive nature, writing skill and breadth of knowledge in infectious diseases.

Phil’s contribution to promoting an academic dialogue while disseminating useful and current information to the readers of Infectious Diseases in Children has been a commitment of 22 years and more than 250 editorials.

The print publication and Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium in New York began in the mid-1980s because primary care physicians and most pediatric specialists consistently rated infectious disease articles highly in their practices. Infectious Diseases in Children is currently the most widely read publication among pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners. PediatricSuperSite.com, the online home of Infectious Diseases in Children and its sister publication, Pediatric Annals, had more than 300,000 visitors in 2009. As I would have predicted, in his last editorial in December, Dr. Brunell gives most of the credit to many who have worked with him and his editorial board.

Phil, you will be missed on the cover and editorial page of Infectious Diseases in Children. We all wish you the best and know that you will be no less visible in the worlds of academia and pediatric infectious diseases.

With the changing of the guard, the focus will be on how to communicate in a way that is current, useful and balanced. I agreed to take the position as Chief Medical Editor after several discussions with the leadership at Wyanoke Group related to the mission and goals in this time of transition.

My goal as Chief Medical Editor is to bring to you, our readers, the most up-to-date information in the areas of infectious diseases and pediatrics that is useful, provocative and well balanced.

We have an editorial board that is composed of highly qualified experts in the areas of pediatric infectious diseases, general pediatrics, dermatology, allergy and immunology and developmental/behavioral pediatrics.

Our sources will include the current meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Red Book Committee, CDC, Pediatric Academic Societies, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and many CME and other medical venues.

The editorial mission is to provide information that you want and need in your practices. The editorial board will continue to be asked to provide commentary on many of our stories to explain, clarify and at times question research findings or materials presented at these meetings.

It should be clear that our goal is to provide “academic free speech” to create a dialogue for future studies and to provide a healthy dose of skepticism at times. This is and should remain the duty of scientists and physicians. With the current environment related to conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest, this challenge is difficult and could be daunting.

The challenge of fostering scientific and medical advances with much needed clinical research while maintaining scientific rigor and academic integrity is our goal.

We want to provide medical information that is free of bias or market enterprise. We also want to make sure that all information is available to be discussed in an editorial arena.

In a world of 24/7/365 communication, this will be a challenge, but my intent is to ask our editorial board to provide that balance in their editorials and commentaries.

For the readers of this publication, it might seem that gathering of newsworthy information in these specific areas, reporting on meetings and gathering highly qualified physicians to provide this high level of information services would be easy. It is not. It requires a great leadership team, an efficient publication staff and the commitment of an editorial board to the areas of medical education, the dissemination of medical information and quality reporting.

I am confident that the leadership team at Wyanoke Group, the reporters/medical writers and publication staff will be able to continue the tradition that this newspaper began more than 20 years ago.

In February, 2009, the staff relaunched Infectious Diseases in Children, with an emphasis on improvements to the cover and overall layout and design.

The staff began incorporating monthly features like In the Journals, and a monthly By the Numbers listing on the cover.

The staff also introduced PediatricSuperSite.com, and have since begun using other forms of media, including Twitter to reach the audience. You can follow us here on Twitter.

I am confident that these changes and new media vehicles and communication tools will enhance our ability to bring information that will help in your offices and hospitals. I am very excited about the expertise of the editorial board and the capacity we will have to bring you high-quality information that is current, balanced and useful.

I also seek your feedback. If you like what you see in this issue, have comments about our website or want to give us recommendations on how to improve, we would like to hear from you.

Give us a call (856-848-1000), write us a letter, (6900 Grove Rod., Thorofare, NJ, 08086), post a comment on our website, PediatricSuperSite.com, or send us an email at editor@PediatricSuperSite.com.

Richard F. Jacobs, MD, FAAP, is a professor University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and works at the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. He is also the Chief Medical Editor of Infectious Diseases in Children.