Themes in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Themed issues, with their hallmark covers (Figure 1), have been a distinguishing feature of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (CPT) for nearly 15 years. Introduced in 2007 by former Editor-in-Chief Scott Waldman, the presentation of innovative content in a thematic manner has evolved into a unique identity for the journal.1 Themed issues focus on the latest developments in a specific area of our discipline and always aim to look toward the future. Indeed, one of CPT’s first themed issues in December 2007 was dedicated to “Vaccines,”2 which now seems almost symbolic at the end of a year where the world has witnessed the development and rollout of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines at unprecedented speed and scale. At the beginning of 2020, the editorial leadership of the journal decided that themed issues would appear less frequently (3 times per year) and also that they would contain a larger number and broader range of articles aligned with the theme, including original research. Furthermore, contributions for themed issues are no longer by invitation only and open calls for papers are now being issued. Six themed issues have been published using this new format in the last 2 years,3-8 and 3 are scheduled for publication in 2022 (Table 1). Submissions for the “Transporter” theme (scheduled for publication in September 2022) are still being accepted. The themes for 2023 are currently being decided by the Editorial Team and will be announced through a call for papers in due course. For each themed issue, we hope to include research and insights into special populations, especially those that have been historically under-represented in the literature. . Clinical pharmacology and Therapeutics 20303 . Data Science4 . Therapeutic Innovations in Oncology5 . Precision Dosing6 . Therapeutic Innovations in Infectious Diseases7 . Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics8 . Opioids and Respiratory Depression9 . Real-World Evidence10 . Diversity in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics . Model-Informed Drug Development . Real-World Evidence . Therapeutic Innovations in Neuroscience . Transporters (https://www.ascpt.org/Journals/Call-for-Papers) A new feature the journal introduced this year were “mini themes,” which are less comprehensive than full themed issues and develop in a more organic, responsive manner. The advantage of this format is that it gives the journal more flexibility to respond to emerging topics in an agile and timely manner. We published 4 such mini-themes in 20219-12 (Table 1) and are planning to build on their success and positive reception by our readers and authors in the coming years. A mini-themed issue we were particularly proud of this year was the October issue focusing on Diversity in Clinical Pharmacology. In that issue, we highlighted several important topics, regarding race, gender, and age. We hope to publish more of this important research, along with an equally important consideration of under-reported populations and by authors from outside wealthier nations. As the ASCPT Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion notes, “Many people in underrepresented populations face barriers to inclusion. We will constantly strive to reduce barriers to inclusion and amplify underrepresented voices…”13 We recognize that submission and publication fees may be such a barrier to authors from many parts of the world. For Open Access (OA) journals, our publisher, Wiley, provides waivers and discounts to authors from more than 100 countries.14 Although CPT is not a fully OA journal, it does wish to lower barriers in a similar way. If you or someone you know is interested in publishing research from any of the more than 100 countries included in reference 14 below, please let us know. We do not want submission fees to be the barrier that prevents them from publishing in CPT. Wiley’s publishing arrangements are not limited to less-wealthy countries. If, for instance, you are a researcher in the United Kingdom or Germany, you may be eligible to have OA fees covered through country-level transitional agreements Wiley has agreed to in the past decade.15 More details are available at the reference below. For the past 2 years, as the world searches for COVID cures, clinical pharmacologists have worked to determine appropriate dosing, repurpose old drugs, and evaluate vaccine safety and efficacy, all while continuing ongoing work in oncology, neuroscience, HIV care, and other conditions that have not disappeared while COVID proliferates. Nor have we lost sight of the fact that clinical pharmacology is the science of diversity: getting the right dose to the right person means we continue our discovery of what that means… for every population. No funding was received for this work. The authors declared no competing interests for this work.

Topic: Pharmacogenetics and Drug Metabolism
Subfield: Pharmacology
Field: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
Domain: Life Sciences