Connecting Communities through a Translational Focus
Authors: Sara Hamilton
Journal: Cell Reports Medicine (2020)

Welcome to the first issue of Cell Reports Medicine, a new broad-scope, open-access journal that publishes cutting-edge research in translational and clinical biomedical sciences. It's been a whirlwind few months to get to this stage, and we hope that our first issue lives up to our lofty ambitions! So, who are we? In short, we are a Cell Press journal. For over four decades, Cell Press has been a trusted home for ground-breaking science. It has grown to include over 40 journals, all of which embrace the ideals of excellence, rigor, and innovation. Cell Press initially focused on exciting biology, but it has evolved and adapted to meet the needs and interests of the scientific communities it serves as part of a broader ambition to become an all science publisher. Cell Press has already branched into the physical sciences and now comes to medicine with the launch of Cell Reports Medicine. Like all Cell Press journals, Cell Reports Medicine publishes high-quality and rigorously vetted studies. We have a team of professional, full-time editors that have extensive experience in publishing, research, and medicine. The team is growing but currently includes me (Sara Hamilton, Ph.D.), Isabel Goldman, M.D., and Kristan van der Vos, Ph.D. However, we do not work alone—rather, we collaborate with our Advisory Board, other Cell Press editors, and you (our authors and reviewers) to ensure a fast, fair, and constructive peer review and revision process. We are committed to finding quick and clear routes to publish your research. Of course, our relationship with you does not end when we accept your paper! We work closely with our operations, production, marketing, and press teams to ensure that the widest possible audience sees your manuscript. As I write this, I am sitting in my newly and hastily constructed home office. We are in the midst of a pandemic, the likes of which most of us have never experienced before. Much of the globe is socially isolated in an effort to slow viral spread and preserve our healthcare systems. Anxiety and uncertainty abound. But in response to physical distance, we see our communities coming together in an unprecedented global effort to end this pandemic. Scientists and physicians are working tirelessly to understand the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of this disease, as well as to identify its most vulnerable patients. At the same time, there are massive efforts underway to understand the virus—how it spreads and infects host cells—to identify vulnerabilities for both drug and vaccine development. The speed at which this happening is truly amazing. Thankfully, this pandemic has not impacted our ability to publish your science. We continue to work with our various communities so that we can quickly share important, trustworthy, and vetted science that healthcare providers, scientists, our leaders, and the public can use to inform their decision making. Peer-reviewed literature is one of our greatest tools to overcome ignorance and prejudice. During times of need, we should lean on it and allow it to guide us, rather than becoming lost through discord, blame, and fear. The Reports Journals (Cell Reports Medicine, Cell Reports, and Cell Reports Physical Sciences) are the premium open access venues for high-impact research at Cell Press. That means that anyone, anywhere will have immediate and unrestricted access to all of our content. Like our Reports siblings, Cell Reports Medicine offers a range of article types so that you have the flexibility to publish in a format appropriate for your research. These include short, single-point Reports to communicate early findings from active, emerging fields; full-length Research Articles; large datasets, techniques, and tools for the community; as well as Reviews and Perspectives that cover recent literature in emerging and active fields. Cell Reports Medicine aims to publish studies that will influence how we think about human health and medicine. We want to be a broad journal that is inclusive and adaptive in scope and selective in quality, as well as one whose strong voice advocates for the societal impact of the work it publishes. The lines separating basic and clinical research have blurred and the time from scientific discovery to clinic has decreased. Advances in our understanding of the molecular basis of disease and technology impact medical decisions. Consider CRISPR, for example. It has only been seven years since researchers discovered that this microbial defense system could be harnessed to edit human genes. In the years since, we have seen incredible progress in the development and application of this technology. There are currently multiple ongoing clinical trials looking at the use of CRIPSR-Cas9 for treatment of a variety of conditions, including cancer, HIV, and genetic disorders such as β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. In the last several months, we have already seen early clinical trial results. Or consider the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In just a few short months, work has moved from the clinic to bench and back. There are already multiple clinical trials underway testing promising antiviral agents and vaccine candidates, and results from early trials have recently been published. Cell Reports Medicine wishes to provide a centralized forum where scientists and clinicians will find important developments in their fields. We will publish papers that range from describing exciting concepts in human biology and disease to reporting all phases of clinical work. These include translational studies and short- and long-term clinical trials in all areas of medicine as well as work in epidemiology, genomics, biomarker discovery, and developments in technology that contribute to diagnostics, treatment, and healthcare. Our scope is broad, but it is unified by our mission to publish research that addresses our healthcare needs and goals. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this first issue of Cell Reports Medicine. It includes a Report by Stephen Waggoner demonstrating the use of PD-L1 based CAR-expressing NK cells to selectively target PD-1 expressing Tfh cells in mice, with an accompanying Preview from Cecile King. The second Report by Signe Torekov is a case study showing that Liraglutide induces weight loss in a woman with a pathogenic homozygous mutation in MC4R. The first issue also contains four Research Articles. The first is a proteogenomic analysis of prospectively collected ovarian high-grade serous cancer samples that identifies tumor-associated signaling pathways and mitotic and cyclin dependent kinases as key oncogenic drivers that may contribute to chromosomal instability. The second is a study by Yanhong Shi using human iPSC-derived brain organoids to model the impact of congenital HCMV on brain development. The third study by Matthew Bogyo shows that the safe-in-human drug ebselen can reduce inflammation and promote microbiome recovery after antibiotic treatment for Clostridium difficile infection in mouse and hamster models. And the fourth by Udayan Guha is a study using multi-region whole exome and RNA-seq to show the clonal evolution and heterogeneity of Osimertinib-acquired resistance mechanisms in EGFR mutant lung cancer. Finally, there is a Review by Ulrich Kintscher discussing the role Adipose Triglyceride Lipase (ATGL) and cytosolic lipolysis play in both cardiac function and heart failure. Does this first issue cover the entirety of our scope? It could not possibly do so. Nor will the second or third issues. However, we hope that in time, Cell Reports Medicine will publish important papers from across the spectrum of translational and clinical disciplines to become an indispensable resource to researchers and clinicians. With that said, I want to thank the reviewers and especially the authors who have made Cell Reports Medicine possible. It takes an adventurous spirit to submit to a new journal and we are ever grateful that you took a chance on us!