Publishing highlights

The last few years have seen dramatic improvements in cancer survival, in large part because of the rapid development of an expanding range of novel anti-cancer therapies. The potential for cardiovascular toxicity associated with these drugs often reflects overlap between pathogenic cancer mechanisms and physiological pathways required for normal cardiovascular function. Clinical Science is, therefore, compiling a themed collection to reflect the growing relevance of cardiovascular oncology as a specialty that aims to refine our understanding and management of these competing risks. This Clinical Science themed collection will be guest edited by Professor Rhian Touyz (University of Glasgow) and Dr Ninian Lang (University of Glasgow). We encourage you to submit your best original research papers. Contact the Editorial Office for more information and to be kept up-to-date on when this collection is live.

Alongside Guest Editor Dr Puja Pathuri (Associate Director, Molecular Sciences at Astex Pharmaceuticals), we are hoping to see contributions from companies across the life sciences industry covering a diverse field of topics including novel therapies, new diagnostics tools, automated processes and computational approaches, biofilms and bioengineered organisms, and environmental monitoring technology. Each article will offer a short, up-to-date review of the latest findings, challenges and future implications, and our aim is not to provide an in-depth review of everything but to open the readers to a potentially new topic they may be interested in. If you would be interested in contributing to the issue, and potentially bringing your work to an interdisciplinary audience of academics of all career stages, please contact the Editorial Office for more information.

In 2019, Qian Wu (University of Leeds) was awarded the Biochemical Society’s Early Career Research Award (Signalling Category) for her work exploring the functional mechanisms of the human DNA damage response and repair pathways. Her themed issue of Essays in Biochemistry aims to summarize our current understanding of the fundamental question of how we deal with DNA damage. Having been involved in identifying key players in the NHEJ pathways for repairing double-strand breaks, the issue looks forward to how research is starting to reveal the dynamic organization of detecting and repairing DNA damage. Reviews in this issue provide an update on the exciting research progress that is happening now in this field and also initiates discussion about future challenges and directions.

As part of the Royal Society of Biology celebratory 10-year anniversary programme which contributed to our vision of a world that understands the true value of biology and how it can contribute to improving life for all, Emerging Topics in Life Sciences published a special themed issue looking back over the last 10 years in the life sciences. Including both perspective pieces and mini-reviews, the issue covers some of the biggest advances and looks forward to consider what the future might hold. As part of Biology Week 2020, the Biochemical Society was happy to present an accompanying webinar as part of the Biochemistry Focus series of webinars.

Guest edited by Dr Emilio Mottillo (Henry Ford Health System) and Professor Gregory Steinberg (McMaster University), this collection addresses current research and emerging concepts in adipose tissue biology in health and disease. The collection highlights recent advances in the understanding of adipose tissue, including thermogenic adipocytes, single-cell approaches to understand cellular heterogeneity, UCP1-independent thermogenesis, mechanisms of adipocyte lipolysis and much more. The Guest Editors have also presented an accompanying webinar as part of the Biochemistry Focus series of webinars.

The 2020European Council for Cardiovascular Research(ECCR) Meeting took place on 9–10 October with several awards supporting early career researchers sponsored by Clinical Science. Professor Rhian Touyz (President of the ECCR and Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Science) was delighted that the journal could support the meeting and the early-career researchers.

Hamdi Jama is a final year PhD student from Monash University under the supervision of Associate Professor Francine Marques and Professor David Kaye. Her PhD research is on understanding the role of the gut microbiome in the development of cardiovascular disease. She is particularly interested in how dietary fibre intake can be used to modulate the gut microbiota and cardiovascular outcome.

André Felipe Rodrigues is currently a PhD student in the laboratory of Professor Michael Bader at the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin. His PhD project focuses on long-term blood pressure regulation, extensively exploring the interaction between the renin–angiotensin system and the autonomic nervous system. To gain more insight into the topic, André uses an integrative physiological approach to phenotype gain- and loss-of-function mouse models. In his home country Brazil, André obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s in biochemistry before moving to Germany to start his PhD.

Antonia Sanad is a medical student at Charité Berlin. Currently, she is working on her MD thesis in the laboratory of Professor Michael Bader at the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine. Her project focuses on possible renoprotective actions of the ACE2-angiotensin(1-7)-Mas-axis of the renin–angiotensin system in chronic kidney disease. For this purpose, Antonia studies animal models with specific genetic alterations in this axis regarding cardiovascular and renal function in ageing and disease.

Giacomo Rossitto graduated in medicine ‘magna cum laude’ in 2010 at the University of Padua, Italy. He specialized in internal medicine, with a clinical and research focus on hypertension, aldosteronism and cardiovascular medicine in general. Giacomo’s PhD studies, investigating tissue salt accumulation and homeostasis in cardiovascular disease, were conducted at the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence, University of Glasgow, UK, under the supervision of Professor Christian Delles, Professor Mark Petrie and Professor Rhian Touyz. Giacomo is currently a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Padua, Italy, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, UK.