The past 20 years of <i>Medicinal Research Reviews</i>
Authors: Binghe Wang
Journal: Medicinal Research Reviews (2019)

It has been almost 20 years since Susan King and Swapna Padhye approached me early in 2000 about the possibility of assuming the position of Chief Editor for Medicinal Research Reviews. At that time, I was a newly minted associate professor of Chemistry at North Carolina State University; Susan was the publisher at John Wiley & Sons for Medicinal Research Reviews; and Swapna was an editor and my direct contact for many subsequent years. I did ask Susan how they decided to approach me for this important position. The answer I got was that several key members of the editorial board suggested my name. With gratitude for the trust of this group of senior colleagues as well as Susan King and Swapna Padhye, I enlisted the help of Dr Dhiren Thakker, Kenan Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, and took on this chief editor's position with a combination of youthful energy, ambition, vision, and a little bit of naiveté. Little did I know of the amount of the work it would be in subsequent years to run this journal, especially considering that was a time when manuscripts needed to be express-mailed to reviewers and a late-review would mean a few more express packages going out very quickly to recruit additional reviewers. Without an online portal, workflow had to be managed by a dedicated person using a spreadsheet. Time has certainly changed, not only in terms of technology but also in the landscape in areas that impact medicinal research. In 2000, the Impact Factor presented to me was 2.64. In contrast, the 2019 Impact Factor was 9.79. In 2000, Medicinal Research Reviews published 22 manuscripts and 571 pages. In 2019, this was 70 manuscripts and over 2500 pages. In 2000, a major focus in the pharmaceutical industry was small molecules and an integrated approach to pharmaceutical R&D by taking into consideration of “drug-like” properties and toxicities early on so as to “fail early and fail fast.” After 20 years, biologics including antibody-drug conjugates dominate the discussion in drug discovery and development. CAR-T, PD-1 and PD-L1, CRISPER, and PROTAC all came to the scene in the last 20 years. David Liu has invented the “search-and-replace” gene-editing method without breaking the double-stranded DNA. Small interfering RNA, oncolytic viruses, and phage therapy are all showing tremendous potentials. Intriguingly, what has been considered as toxic gaseous molecules such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide are emerging as promising therapeutic molecules. These are just a few of a large number of significant developments in the last 20 years. The pharmaceutical landscape is very different now. After almost 20 years in this Chief Editor's position, I thought it was time for a new person to inject some new ideas, new approaches, and new energy into this journal. I feel very good about the state of the journal in terms of its climb in Impact Factor, visibility, and most importantly impact. There is a lot to be said about leaving “at the top of your game.” Furthermore, we could not have found a better person than Professor Amanda Hargrove of Duke University to take over the journal. I have known Professor Hargrove since her graduate student days; she is smart, creative, and passionate not only about science but education in general as well. Incidentally, she is also at the career stage that I was when I assumed the Chief Editor's position. I am very confident that Dr Hargrove will take the journal to new heights. In the end, I would like to express my immense gratitude to the team at John Wiley & Sons for their support over the years, especially Dr Natalia Ortuzar and Dr Paul-André Genest for their understanding of my decision to resign from this position and for their support during the transition. I very much appreciate the quick actions of Dr Paul-André Genest in signing Dr Amanda Hargrove as the next Chief Editor. Most importantly, I am very much indebted to the editorial board members for their friendship and support, to the authors and reviewers for their contributions, and to the readers who are the true force behind the success and the strong upward trajectory of the journal over the past 20 years. I look forward to seeing the continued success of Medicinal Research Reviews under the tutelage of Dr Amanda Hargrove. Binghe Wang 24 November 2019