It is a tremendous honor and responsibility to assume the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (JCP) upon the retirement of Founding Editor-in-Chief, Dr Richard Shader and co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr David Greenblatt. Drs Shader and Greenblatt have provided an exceptional leadership to the journal, and I am grateful to follow in their footsteps. Founded in 1981 by Dr Shader, JCP fulfilled an unmet need for a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to clinical psychopharmacology. That need remains today. During their tenure, Drs Shader and Greenblatt did an outstanding job with their thoughtful approach and unwavering dedication, making JCP an important journal with the highest scientific and ethical standards. JCP has been a must-read for clinicians, researchers, and psychopharmacologists for 40 years.
Back in college, before I had even heard of psychopharmacology or thought of becoming a physician, I was interested in the chemistry of the mind, majoring in chemistry with an additional heavy load of courses in psychology. First in medical school and then later during residency at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, I was introduced to the field of psychopharmacology and the impact that proper treatment with psychotropic medications could have on improving people's lives. To this chemistry major, it was an eye-opening experience to see the lightest solid element in the periodic table (lithium) be given to patients seriously ill from the manifestations of bipolar disorder, resulting in them being able to lead normal productive lives. To this day, I remain fascinated by how clinical psychopharmacology can help people suffering from a range of psychiatric diseases.
For more than 4 decades, I have been deeply involved with the field and active in research in clinical psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry first at McLean Hospital and then at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where I continue to lead a busy and robust research program. I see patients on a regular basis, so I am fully engaged in the complex clinical psychopharmacologic issues that practitioners face. I also have had extensive experience as an author, a reviewer, and an editorial board member of journals.
As Editor-in-Chief, I will seek to build on the foundation laid by Drs Shader and Greenblatt to publish high-impact, pioneering research in psychopharmacology. I believe the strength of JCP is the combination of its clinical focus, which directly affects patient care, and scientific advances with clinical applications. The opportunity to move JCP forward comes at a crucial time in psychopharmacology as the advancements in basic neuroscience and its application to new psychopharmacologic treatments for our patients are expanding exponentially. I am committed to building upon JCP's essential role as the premier journal for studies focusing on the clinical application of psychopharmacology, and I encourage our authors to submit cutting-edge research on clinical trials of new medications in development for the treatment of psychiatric illnesses. In addition to publishing original research of clinically relevant investigations and animal work with direct applicability to clinical care, we will continue to publish Commentaries and Guest Editorials, Brief Reports, Review Articles, Book Reviews, and Letters to the Editor/Case Reports. We are particularly interested in publishing clinical trials and studies, side effects of psychotropic medications and other adverse reactions, drug interactions, overdose management, pharmacogenetics, pharmacokinetics, and the psychiatric effects of nonpsychiatric drugs. I appreciate that a key function of the Editor-in-Chief is to facilitate the timely review and publication of submitted manuscripts. Improving the time from submission to editorial decision to publication is essential, so our readers can obtain the most up-to-date information as quickly as possible. To that end, we will continue to publish accepted manuscripts online ahead of print on our website for quicker dissemination of the important work of our authors. I anticipate in the coming years that we will move toward increased electronic publishing platforms.
I am fortunate to have inherited a talented editorial board and reviewers. We are deeply grateful for your contributions. Being a reviewer is an important and absolutely vital service to our field. Thank you. To our authors, past and future, thank you for thinking of JCP to submit your work and for allowing us the privilege of publishing your outstanding research in psychopharmacology. Drs Shader and Greenblatt will be honored perpetually on the JCP masthead as Emeritus Founding Editor-in-Chief and Emeritus Editor-in-Chief, respectively.
I believe this is an exciting time in psychopharmacology, and I am enthusiastic to serve as JCP's Editor-in-Chief. I am thankful and appreciative for this opportunity, and I look forward to my new role.
Anthony J. Rothschild, MD
Editor-in-Chief
