- Email: [email protected]
The Birth of a Journal
The Birth of a Journal
I
N THE PAST ten years the membership of the National Kidney Foundation has grown and evolved considerably. Formerly composed of a majority of lay volunteers and patients and a minority of volunteer professionals and advisers, the membership has grown to include a large constituency of nutritionists, social workers, nurses, technicians, and physicians . Among the many physicians who have joined the various councils of the Foundation are nephrologists, pathologists, transplant surgeons , and urologists. The evolution in membership to include a variety of medical and allied health professions has led to a perceptible need for a vehicle of scientific exchange (other than the Clinical Dialysis and Transplantation Forum). Thus was born the idea of sponsorship by the Foundation of a journal whose focus is to be human renal and urogenital function in health and disease. The Scientific Advisory Board, working closely with the Medical Director (Dr. Ira Griefer), the Board of Trustees, and the staff of the Foundation, rose to the challenge and after a careful search, invited Dr. George Porter to become the first editor. Dr. Porter accepted enthusiastically and wasted no time getting started. Working with the Scientific Advisory Board and the Foundation, Dr. Porter chose the name, format, and publisher and appointed two assistant editors, six associate editors, two consulting editors, and an editorial board of nearly 70 members . The culmination of
these efforts is represented in this first issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. In deciding to launch a new journal, the Scientific Advisory Board was not unaware of the apparent surfeit of existing or anticipated nephrology and nephrology-related journals. Indeed, efforts were made to avoid unnecessary duplication. As its format indicates, there really is no other journal of nephrology quite like this one. We thought, furthermore, that a journal under the auspices of the Foundation stood the better chance of surviving. The Scientific Advisory Board is most enthusiastic about the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and will endeavor to assist Dr. Porter in any way he sees fit. The Board has also appointed a committee of outside experts to advise it concerning the progress of the journal. We believe that under Dr. Porter's leadership the American Journal of Kidney Disease will not only survive but prosper. We wish it well. Wadi N. Suki, M.D. Immediate Past President Rex L. Jamison, M.D. President Scientific Advisory Board, National Kidney Foundation
© /98/ by Grune & Strattoll , Inc. 0272-6386/8/ /0/0/ -0002$01.00/0
American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol. I, No. 1 (July), 1981
3
I
N THE PAST ten years the membership of the National Kidney Foundation has grown and evolved considerably. Formerly composed of a majority of lay volunteers and patients and a minority of volunteer professionals and advisers, the membership has grown to include a large constituency of nutritionists, social workers, nurses, technicians, and physicians . Among the many physicians who have joined the various councils of the Foundation are nephrologists, pathologists, transplant surgeons , and urologists. The evolution in membership to include a variety of medical and allied health professions has led to a perceptible need for a vehicle of scientific exchange (other than the Clinical Dialysis and Transplantation Forum). Thus was born the idea of sponsorship by the Foundation of a journal whose focus is to be human renal and urogenital function in health and disease. The Scientific Advisory Board, working closely with the Medical Director (Dr. Ira Griefer), the Board of Trustees, and the staff of the Foundation, rose to the challenge and after a careful search, invited Dr. George Porter to become the first editor. Dr. Porter accepted enthusiastically and wasted no time getting started. Working with the Scientific Advisory Board and the Foundation, Dr. Porter chose the name, format, and publisher and appointed two assistant editors, six associate editors, two consulting editors, and an editorial board of nearly 70 members . The culmination of
these efforts is represented in this first issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. In deciding to launch a new journal, the Scientific Advisory Board was not unaware of the apparent surfeit of existing or anticipated nephrology and nephrology-related journals. Indeed, efforts were made to avoid unnecessary duplication. As its format indicates, there really is no other journal of nephrology quite like this one. We thought, furthermore, that a journal under the auspices of the Foundation stood the better chance of surviving. The Scientific Advisory Board is most enthusiastic about the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and will endeavor to assist Dr. Porter in any way he sees fit. The Board has also appointed a committee of outside experts to advise it concerning the progress of the journal. We believe that under Dr. Porter's leadership the American Journal of Kidney Disease will not only survive but prosper. We wish it well. Wadi N. Suki, M.D. Immediate Past President Rex L. Jamison, M.D. President Scientific Advisory Board, National Kidney Foundation
© /98/ by Grune & Strattoll , Inc. 0272-6386/8/ /0/0/ -0002$01.00/0
American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol. I, No. 1 (July), 1981
3