Reflections on My Tenure as Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology

This issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology marks the end of 2013, but also the end of my tenure as editor-in-chief of this journal.  It has been a challenging and remarkable experience, one of the highlights of my career. I began as editor-in-chief after meeting the publishing company owners, Harry Hurley and Pat Scullin, in 1989 at a reception during the AHA Annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans. I was surprised when a couple of weeks later I received a letter asking me to accept the editorship of this recently launched publication.  Knowing nothing about being an editor, I was going to graciously decline, but the enthusiastic encouragement I received from Dr. Richard Myler, whom I worked with at the San Francisco Heart Institute, prompted me to accept the challenge of building a publication. Richard’s support of my efforts was critical during those early years. As many of you know, Richard Myler died on October 8, 2013.  He was an inspiration to all who knew him, and was a pioneer in the creation of the field of invasive and interventional cardiology. He was instrumental in my quest to build the journal into the world class publication it is today. There are others who have played pivotal roles in this journey. Laurie Gustafson has served as the Managing Editor since the beginning, and together we have evolved our publication process into the current online technology that results in rapid decisions for submitting authors. Paula Rowbury has spent long hours over the years assigning and following up on the countless reviews that constantly traverse the internet. The publishing company, HMP Communications, LLC (formerly Health Management Publications), has been a model of innovation in medical publishing, and I owe a great debt to those who have led this company, especially Jeff Martin and the current staff, who have worked diligently to keep the journal viable. It has been gratifying to see the publications that have emanated from the journal, including Cath Lab Digest, EP Lab Digest and Vascular Disease Management.  Over the years we have added many special section editors and they have helped broaden the scope of what is published. I could not have handled the incredible growth of submissions to the journal during the last few years without the involvement of both Dr. Lloyd Klein, Plaque Composition and Dynamics special section editor, and Dr. Deepak Bhatt, our senior associate editor. As I took over from the founding editor of the journal, Dr. Ted Parris, I am thrilled to pass the baton to Dr. Bhatt, who will be taking over as editor-in-chief in January. I am completely confident that he will continue our success and take the journal to the next level. The journal has always maintained the highest standards of excellence, being one of the few publications that utilizes a double blind peer review system. I have been blessed with a hard working editorial board and a core of dedicated reviewers, many of whom have been colleagues of mine since the beginning of my career.  All of these people have been an integral part of the journal’s success, but it would not be what it is today without the innovators, scientists and clinicians who have submitted their cutting edge work for publication, and you, the readers of the journal, who take this knowledge and advance the practice of cardiovascular medicine each day with your patients.  It is an incredibly productive flow of information to practice that we all can be proud of. I thank all of you for allowing me to be part of this process that advances science and improves patient care.

This issue of the journal covers important original research including treatment of non-anterior STEMI, FFR in multiple stenoses, a review of stent loss and retrieval, development of a global risk score for choosing revascularization strategy in left main disease, and a report from the Italian Multicenter Registry on Bifurcation lesions. There are articles from our special sections, including Radial Access Technique, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Clinical Images and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. As always, there are articles published in our “Online Exclusive” section this month that cover an array of interesting topics including congenital heart disease and use of optical coherence tomography. These selections can be found on our website (www.invasivecardiology.com), as well as past issues of the journal. I am confident that this issue and future issues of the journal will continue to provide important and clinically relevant information that can be used by practitioners to effectively treat cardiovascular patients. The exciting journey that has been an important part of my life will continue on.

Richard E. Shaw, PhD, FACC, FACA, Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Invasive Cardiology