Loscalzo is director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute and professor and chairman of the department of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. He also serves as physician-in-chief of the department of medicine, and president of Evans Medical Foundation for Boston Medical Center.
He earned his medical and post-doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. An active volunteer for the American Heart Association for 15 years, he has served on the editorial boards of several of the association's journals: Hypertension; Circulation Research; Circulation; and Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Loscalzo is immediate past chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine's Cardiovascular Board, and immediate past chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. He has written 20 books and more than 400 research articles related to vascular biology, nitric oxide, and atherothrombosis. Loscalzo also holds several U.S. patents for his work in the field of nitric oxide.
In his debut editorial, to be published in the July 6 issue of Circulation, he wrote that cardiologists and cardiovascular researchers were once akin to eagles, soaring above the landscape, "scanning it for what was relevant to their needs as well as what stimulated their curiosity."
Today, this task can be difficult as research becomes more fragmented and complex, he said. Physicians need to maintain competency and focus on their specific area of expertise. However, Loscalzo wrote: "I strongly disagree with the prevailing view that focus precludes broad understanding of a discipline, that there is simply too much to know, and that no one can hope to keep up with an entire field without sacrificing competency in a narrowly defined domain. … we must maintain this broad knowledge of our field to care for our patients optimally."
He said he hopes journal readers gain valuable new scientific knowledge in cardiovascular medicine and biology in their specific areas of expertise and beyond.
The journal will offer brief summaries of the most important articles published each week that either directly affect the practice of cardiovascular medicine or promise to do so in the near future. Four new series will be published: Contemporary Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine, Basic Science for Clinicians, Controversies in Cardiovascular Medicine and New Drugs and Technologies.
James T. Willerson, M.D., president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was editor of Circulation since 1993.
In a separate editorial, Willerson bid farewell to his duties and noted that he and his staff "are confident that Dr. Loscalzo and his team will continue the long legacy of Circulation's commitment to excellence in the publication of cardiovascular research and that they will take Circulation to even higher levels of achievement."
NR04-1280 (Loscalzo)
Additional Contacts:
Bridgette McNeill: 214-706-1135
Maggie Francis: 214-706-1397