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Cardiovascular Pathology A platform for research, teaching, and clinical care
Cardiovascular Pathology 13 (2004) 123 – 124
Editorial
Cardiovascular Pathology A platform for research, teaching, and clinical care Academic cardiovascular pathology is a discipline characterized by exciting opportunities for innovation and excellence in research, in teaching, and in clinical care. Pathologists have the opportunity to use advanced and evolving laboratory technologies to help diagnose disease earlier and with increasing sophistication. A look at publications over the last few years shows remarkable progress in the cardiovascular sciences, with an increasing understanding of the basis of disease. We expect that with accumulating bodies of new molecular information and early diagnosis, there will be an increasing ability to accurately predict outcomes. We believe that the discoveries yet to come will foster interest in and an enthusiasm for pathology in general and for cardiovascular pathology in particular. Departments of pathology and laboratory medicine across the globe require the very best clinicians and scientists to successfully meet the challenges of the medicine that is practiced today and will be practiced tomorrow. Our journal, Cardiovascular Pathology, is proud to provide a means by which the discipline of cardiovascular pathology, in its broadest sense, can achieve extraordinary accomplishments in research, teaching, and clinical care. New technologies provide pathologists with important additional information for clinical consultations that will help direct therapy ever more accurately, surpassing what is available today. Clinical progress has created a need for validation of the efficacy and safety of diagnostic tests, therapeutic techniques including cardiac transplantation and gene therapy and devices, including balloon angioplasty, vascular grafts and drug-eluting stents, the next generation of prosthetic cardiac valves, and cardiac assist devices. The human biologic material that cardiovascular pathologists see on a daily basis provides intellectual inspiration and direction to investigate mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in innovative ways. By being at the crossroads of basic science and clinical medicine, the cardiovascular pathologist is in the enviable position of being able to develop appropriate in vitro and in vivo models to investigate mechanisms of human cardiovascular disease. The phenotypes arising from experimental genetic manipulation are being thoroughly studied, especially by using imaging methods that effectively combine morphology and molecular biology, a powerful combination to help understand genome function. 1054-8807/04/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S1054-8807(04)00007-9
In cardiovascular pathology, the common model is that of the clinician scientist, an individual who is trained in anatomic pathology, cardiovascular pathology, and scientific investigation. The objective of training the clinician scientists is a dual one. The clinician scientist brings the rigors of scientific investigation into the patient care arena and from the bedside and clinical laboratory brings clinically relevant questions into the research arena to drive investigations into pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. It is not uncommon for normal biological processes to be better understood from the study of the pathobiology of disease. Who better to study these diseases than those who know it intimately through their own clinical practice? Who better to provide clinical care than those who have a strong background in problem solving, hypothesis testing and critical thinking? In addition, the clinician scientist is perfectly suited to the role of transmitter of basic and clinical information, especially new and emerging knowledge. The linking of teaching to research is a powerful educational paradigm that provides much added value to the student of cardiovascular disease. Medical students, graduate students, residents, fellows, and postdoctoral trainees all benefit greatly by exposure to teachers who are immersed in investigative cardiovascular pathology. The very best medical students need to be attracted into the subspecialty of cardiovascular pathology. Cardiovascular clinician scientists need to maintain high-quality programs to provide the unique training that cardiovascular pathology offers to the study, understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Cardiovascular pathology training programs are required to train individuals along three interdependent pathways to support the three pillars of academic medicine—research, teaching, and clinical care. A high volume and challenging case mix, a dynamic interdisciplinary cardiovascular research program, and strong interactions with academic cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, imaging physicians, and transplant specialists are essential to provide the very best of training in cardiovascular clinician– scientist programs. Universities, teaching hospitals, affiliated research institutes, granting agencies—private and government, and industrial partners need to actively support both the training of cardiovascular
124
Editorial / Cardiovascular Pathology 13 (2004) 123 – 124
pathology clinician scientists and the launching of their careers. A stimulating intellectual environment with stateof-the-art resources and time dedicated to research are needed to launch clinician scientist careers and support their productive growth, especially in the early stages of their careers. Cardiovascular Pathology, the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology (SCVP) is pleased to be part of the global effort to maintain and to foster the specialty of cardiovascular pathology. The SCVP, formed in 1985, has provided an infrastructure for those representing a wide range of diagnostic, investigative, and educational interests in cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular Pathology provides a unique and excellent forum for cardiovascular pathologists and those studying cardiovascular disease in other disciplines to transmit the new knowledge that they uncover to their colleagues. It is in essence a forum for bench to bedside research. As a fully indexed journal, the manuscripts published in Cardiovascular Pathology are easily accessible to scientists and clinicians, worldwide. The efficient and prompt handling of manuscripts in the review process facilitates the rapid publication and dissemination of new cardiovascular knowledge. The original reports of basic science studies provide a platform for the transmission of new knowledge in the study of the pathogenesis of human cardiovascular disease. The sections on technical advances and on images in cardiovascular pathology, the case reports, and the clinical – pathological studies
provide new knowledge on clinical issues. Timely reviews highlight current information and concepts in the rapidly expanding and diverse field of cardiovascular medicine. It is indeed an exciting time in investigative cardiovascular pathobiology. The conquest of cardiovascular disease requires cardiovascular pathologists who practice in a highintensity, knowledge-based subspecialty with an effective research infrastructure that promotes excellence in teaching, research, and patient care. Cardiovascular Pathology is proud to be the means by which excellent and timely scholarly activity in these three pillars is communicated to colleagues and to scientific and clinical communities. ‘‘Knowledge exists to be imparted.’’ Ralph Waldo Emerson Avrum I. Gotlieb Jagdish Butany Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology The Banting Institute, University of Toronto 100 College Street, Room 110 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1L5 Tel.: +1-416-978-2557 Fax: +1-416-978-7361 E-mail address: [email protected] Received 28 January 2004; accepted 28 January 2004
Editorial
Cardiovascular Pathology A platform for research, teaching, and clinical care Academic cardiovascular pathology is a discipline characterized by exciting opportunities for innovation and excellence in research, in teaching, and in clinical care. Pathologists have the opportunity to use advanced and evolving laboratory technologies to help diagnose disease earlier and with increasing sophistication. A look at publications over the last few years shows remarkable progress in the cardiovascular sciences, with an increasing understanding of the basis of disease. We expect that with accumulating bodies of new molecular information and early diagnosis, there will be an increasing ability to accurately predict outcomes. We believe that the discoveries yet to come will foster interest in and an enthusiasm for pathology in general and for cardiovascular pathology in particular. Departments of pathology and laboratory medicine across the globe require the very best clinicians and scientists to successfully meet the challenges of the medicine that is practiced today and will be practiced tomorrow. Our journal, Cardiovascular Pathology, is proud to provide a means by which the discipline of cardiovascular pathology, in its broadest sense, can achieve extraordinary accomplishments in research, teaching, and clinical care. New technologies provide pathologists with important additional information for clinical consultations that will help direct therapy ever more accurately, surpassing what is available today. Clinical progress has created a need for validation of the efficacy and safety of diagnostic tests, therapeutic techniques including cardiac transplantation and gene therapy and devices, including balloon angioplasty, vascular grafts and drug-eluting stents, the next generation of prosthetic cardiac valves, and cardiac assist devices. The human biologic material that cardiovascular pathologists see on a daily basis provides intellectual inspiration and direction to investigate mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in innovative ways. By being at the crossroads of basic science and clinical medicine, the cardiovascular pathologist is in the enviable position of being able to develop appropriate in vitro and in vivo models to investigate mechanisms of human cardiovascular disease. The phenotypes arising from experimental genetic manipulation are being thoroughly studied, especially by using imaging methods that effectively combine morphology and molecular biology, a powerful combination to help understand genome function. 1054-8807/04/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S1054-8807(04)00007-9
In cardiovascular pathology, the common model is that of the clinician scientist, an individual who is trained in anatomic pathology, cardiovascular pathology, and scientific investigation. The objective of training the clinician scientists is a dual one. The clinician scientist brings the rigors of scientific investigation into the patient care arena and from the bedside and clinical laboratory brings clinically relevant questions into the research arena to drive investigations into pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. It is not uncommon for normal biological processes to be better understood from the study of the pathobiology of disease. Who better to study these diseases than those who know it intimately through their own clinical practice? Who better to provide clinical care than those who have a strong background in problem solving, hypothesis testing and critical thinking? In addition, the clinician scientist is perfectly suited to the role of transmitter of basic and clinical information, especially new and emerging knowledge. The linking of teaching to research is a powerful educational paradigm that provides much added value to the student of cardiovascular disease. Medical students, graduate students, residents, fellows, and postdoctoral trainees all benefit greatly by exposure to teachers who are immersed in investigative cardiovascular pathology. The very best medical students need to be attracted into the subspecialty of cardiovascular pathology. Cardiovascular clinician scientists need to maintain high-quality programs to provide the unique training that cardiovascular pathology offers to the study, understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Cardiovascular pathology training programs are required to train individuals along three interdependent pathways to support the three pillars of academic medicine—research, teaching, and clinical care. A high volume and challenging case mix, a dynamic interdisciplinary cardiovascular research program, and strong interactions with academic cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, imaging physicians, and transplant specialists are essential to provide the very best of training in cardiovascular clinician– scientist programs. Universities, teaching hospitals, affiliated research institutes, granting agencies—private and government, and industrial partners need to actively support both the training of cardiovascular
124
Editorial / Cardiovascular Pathology 13 (2004) 123 – 124
pathology clinician scientists and the launching of their careers. A stimulating intellectual environment with stateof-the-art resources and time dedicated to research are needed to launch clinician scientist careers and support their productive growth, especially in the early stages of their careers. Cardiovascular Pathology, the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology (SCVP) is pleased to be part of the global effort to maintain and to foster the specialty of cardiovascular pathology. The SCVP, formed in 1985, has provided an infrastructure for those representing a wide range of diagnostic, investigative, and educational interests in cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular Pathology provides a unique and excellent forum for cardiovascular pathologists and those studying cardiovascular disease in other disciplines to transmit the new knowledge that they uncover to their colleagues. It is in essence a forum for bench to bedside research. As a fully indexed journal, the manuscripts published in Cardiovascular Pathology are easily accessible to scientists and clinicians, worldwide. The efficient and prompt handling of manuscripts in the review process facilitates the rapid publication and dissemination of new cardiovascular knowledge. The original reports of basic science studies provide a platform for the transmission of new knowledge in the study of the pathogenesis of human cardiovascular disease. The sections on technical advances and on images in cardiovascular pathology, the case reports, and the clinical – pathological studies
provide new knowledge on clinical issues. Timely reviews highlight current information and concepts in the rapidly expanding and diverse field of cardiovascular medicine. It is indeed an exciting time in investigative cardiovascular pathobiology. The conquest of cardiovascular disease requires cardiovascular pathologists who practice in a highintensity, knowledge-based subspecialty with an effective research infrastructure that promotes excellence in teaching, research, and patient care. Cardiovascular Pathology is proud to be the means by which excellent and timely scholarly activity in these three pillars is communicated to colleagues and to scientific and clinical communities. ‘‘Knowledge exists to be imparted.’’ Ralph Waldo Emerson Avrum I. Gotlieb Jagdish Butany Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology The Banting Institute, University of Toronto 100 College Street, Room 110 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1L5 Tel.: +1-416-978-2557 Fax: +1-416-978-7361 E-mail address: [email protected] Received 28 January 2004; accepted 28 January 2004