PHYS THER
Vol. 88, No. 9, September 2008, pp. 986-988
DOI: 10.2522/ptj.2008.88.9.986
The 2008/2009 Editorial Board
Rebecca L Craik, Editor in Chief
This is the time of year when I suffer "scrambled brain." There is so much to do before the start of the new academic year, and so little time. I begin a project and then get pulled in a different direction because suddenly something else seems more important and the deadline is right now. I’m sure you know the feeling. The juggling act becomes very complicated. Will the full complement of new physical therapist students show up on the first day? Will I find a better way to teach the neuroscience content this year? Will the grant that we are rewriting for an October 1 deadline get funded this year? Will the guest lecturers show up for their allotted time? Meanwhile, at home, tomatoes need to be picked and canned—but that's on hold because the corn just got ripe, and there is corn relish to make. Should we make peach jam, or freeze the peaches? Can I let the weeds crowd the beans and beets for another week?
One enterprise that really produces "scrambled brain" is scholarly publishing. Changes in technology, the growing number of journals, and easier Web access to information/misinformation challenge us to figure out ways to keep PTJ's content vital and compelling. Our dynamic Web site (www.ptjournal.org) and our Bottom Line summaries, video clips, and podcasts are designed to reach you through different venues. When we adopt new standards for manuscript submission and fine-tune our Editorial Board, we are seeking to improve the quality of the content delivered on paper, online, and in your ear.
I want to introduce you to our new Editorial Board members for 2008/2009, who, in addition to reviewing manuscripts, will help PTJ deepen its content areas, broaden its author and reader base, and refine its approach to the presentation of research, especially clinical trials, cohort studies, and observational studies. All of our new Editorial Board members are international: two from Australia, one from the Netherlands, and one from the United Kingdom. They also are multidisciplinary: two are physical therapists, one is a rheumatologist, and one is a psychologist. I encourage you to visit PubMed to view their extensive publication histories. You will find their work to be impressive and innovative:
- Rachelle Buchbinder, MBBS(Hons), MSc, PhD, FRACP, is PTJ's first rheumatologist Editorial Board member. An epidemiologist as well, Buchbinder is Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, Victoria, Australia. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles on a wide range of soft tissue disorders (low back pain, adhesive capsulitis, plantar fasciitis) in a wide range of journals, from NEJM to Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. She graduated in medicine from Monash University and received a master's degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of Toronto for research on the classification of soft tissue disorders of the neck and upper limb. Most recently, she has been involved in clinical trials investigating new interventions in the management of soft tissue disorders of the shoulder, elbow, knee, and heel. Rachelle received the Volvo Award in 2001 and a 2007 Premier's Award for Medical Research commendation for her PhD thesis outlining an evaluation of a mass-media education campaign. Titled "Back Pain: Don’t Take It Lying Down," the campaign was the first public health approach to back-related disability ever implemented. Rachelle's findings—that the campaign had a strong and enduring beneficial effect on community and general practitioner beliefs about back pain—have prompted the development of public health interventions for back pain in Canada, England, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, and Wales.
- Paul JM Helders, PT, PhD, has been working with us since February, and he and Cole Galloway, PT, PhD, have already come up with topics for two pediatric special series. Paul has considerable experience in peer-reviewed publication, and not just in terms of his more than 200 articles on developmental pediatrics, pediatric rehabilitation, and pediatric physical therapy. He serves on the Editorial Board of Pediatric Physical Therapy and is USA Member of the Editorial Board of Disability and Rehabilitation. He heads the Department of Pediatric Physiotherapy and Pediatric Exercise Physiology and is Member of Scientific Staff, University Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands, where he formerly was Chief of Staff. Paul received his master of science degree from the Free University Brussels in Belgium and his PhD from Utrecht University. He earned the Dutch Rheumatology Award of the Dutch Arthritis Society for outstanding activities and the NetChild Award for Outstanding Research in Childhood Disability. He is perhaps the only PTJ Editorial Board member who has had a lecture named after him—the biannual Paul Helders Lecture, by the University Medical Center/Children's Hospital and the Royal Dutch Society for Pediatric Physiotherapy.
- Chris J Main, PhD, FBPsS, brings a psychosocial perspective to PTJ's musculoskeletal content. His research and teaching focus on pain and disability, obstacles to recovery, secondary prevention, outcome prediction, and measurement, and his publication record includes more than 70 papers in journals ranging from Psychology, Health & Medicine to British Journal of Dermatology. He completed his PhD in psychological factors in low back pain with Gordon Waddell, with whom he published a number of articles on low back pain and related psychological, cognitive, and behavioral issues. Chris established the first interdisciplinary program for low back pain in the United Kingdom. He practiced for more than 25 years as a clinical health psychologist with a specialty in musculoskeletal problems and was Head of the Department of Behavioral Medicine, Hope Hospital, Salford. In 1997, he was given an Honorary Personal Chair at the University of Manchester and, in 2005, was appointed full-time Professor of Psychology (Pain Management) in the Arthritis Research Campaign National Primary Care Research Centre at Keele University. He has served on a number of UK Government Committees, was Scientific Chair of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, and is Past-President of the Society for Back Pain Research (UK). In 2005, he was made an honorary life member of the British Pain Society.
- Val Robertson, PT, PhD, has been one of PTJ's high-performing manuscript reviewers for several years and also has contributed to the Journal as an author of articles and invited commentaries. She is Professor of Allied Health and holds a joint position with University of Newcastle and North Sydney Central Coast Health. With about 60 peer-reviewed publications, Val's research interests focus primarily on electrotherapeutic and physical modalities, with some "recent forays" into manual therapy. She has published in a wide range of journals, including Australian & New Zealand Journal of Surgery, Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Manual Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Val has been invited to speak around the world about her research. She also is increasingly involved in human research ethics. In 2006, she co-edited the 4th edition of Electrotherapy Explained (London: Elsevier Science Ltd), which is scheduled for revision beginning in 2009, and she is working on another book due for release in 2009. Val has two bachelor degrees (one in physiotherapy from Lincoln Institute and one in philosophy from La Trobe University), and a certificate in basic electronics. She earned her PhD from La Trobe University.
As we welcome these new colleagues, I want to thank Dan Cipriani, PT, PhD, for his service on the Editorial Board over the past 2 years. He is now rotating off the Editorial Board but will continue to review for PTJ. Dan helped us make the transition to a more thorough statistical review of manuscripts, which led us to recognize that we need more people with his expertise. Several statistical consultants have joined the PTJ enterprise: Steven Hanna, PhD, John E Hewett, PhD, Hang Lee, PhD, and Samuel Wu, PhD. Already these experts have helped us provide essential guidance to authors earlier in the review process. We owe a special thanks to Steve, who has helped us formulate our approach to statistical reporting and continues to offer critical insights about the process.
Despite all of the balls in the air waiting to get caught, I have to stop for a moment, take a deep breath—and enjoy the fact that there is so much to do. We are lucky to have such excellent Editorial Board members and to live in a time when there are so many ways to communicate basic research and clinical information. What a great way to begin a new academic year!
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Copyright © 2008 by the American Physical Therapy Association.
