Wilmington, Delaware, Sept. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eric Kmiec, Ph.D., executive director and chief scientific officer of ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute, has been selected as editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Gene and Genome Editing. Kmiec served three years on the journal’s board prior to this new position.
“This leading journal in the field has created an environment where gene editing research can undergo rigorous review and provide the field with cutting-edge findings that benefit all,” Kmiec said. “We have a unique opportunity to fill a void in the field by focusing on clear messages about the foundational aspects of gene editing and accepting papers that cover groundbreaking gene editing discoveries.”
“I am delighted with Eric’s appointment and the plans he has to take the journal in a new direction,” said Susanne Steiginga, MSc, executive publisher of Gene and Genome Editing. “Eric comes with a wealth of knowledge, and every time I speak with him, I’m thrilled to realize how similar our goals and ambitions are for the journal.”
Kmiec is the founder and executive director of the ChristianaCare Gene Editing Institute. He is also the chief executive officer and scientific founder of CorriXR Therapeutics. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in the fields of molecular medicine and gene editing. Throughout his professional career, Kmiec has led research teams in developing gene editing technologies and genetic therapies for inherited disorders and cancer. His research has helped elucidate the regulatory circuitry that controls the gene editing of human cells. Current clinical research centers on developing CRISPR-based gene editing approaches for solid tumors. Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and esophageal cancer are the lead protocols now advancing through the FDA approval process.
“I will encourage papers from scientists early in their career, and I hope to see scientists with strong voices publishing papers on the important molecular or biochemical aspects of the gene editing reaction,” Kmiec said. “I’d like to see the journal become the go-to publication not only for exciting therapeutic applications but, perhaps more importantly, for the foundational signs that will guide successful implementation.”
Other researchers and scholars in the field offer reflections about Kmiec’s appointment:
“The vision that Eric Kmiec has for this publication is very broad and all-inclusive, which is really great for the ‘applied science’ kind of people like me,” said Joseph Miano, Ph.D., distinguished university chair at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “There should be a space in the publishing world for initial reports on proven phenomena that doesn’t require years and years of work. If someone can put out a quick report on something that’s proven to be doable, that can ripple out and provide inspiration and backing for someone else’s genomic innovation. And that’s really what a journal is all about: reporting provable science for the benefit of everyone.”
“I'm a big fan of [Kmiec’s] pioneering work, and I've read many of his insightful studies on DNA repair machinery, homologous recombination and more recently leveraging CRISPR systems,” says Le Cong, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology and genetics at Stanford University. “I am pleased to offer my support for his vision and work with Gene and Genome Editing, and I cannot wait to see how his knowledge of applied genome science and the world of rigorous scientific review combine to elevate scientists and their research.”
Gene and Genome Editing currently publishes methodological and translational research covering the spectrum of gene editing techniques and applications in any living organism. Its focus is on translational research with potential short- or long-term impact.
About the Gene Editing Institute
The ChristianaCare Gene Editing Institute, a worldwide leader in CRISPR gene editing technology and the only institute of its kind based within a community health care system, takes a patient-first approach in all its research to improve the lives of people with life-threatening disease.
Since 2015, researchers at the Gene Editing Institute have been involved in several ground-breaking firsts in the field, including the development of the first CRISPR gene editing tool to allow DNA repairs outside the human cell which will rapidly speed therapies to patients and a unique version of CRISPR called EXACT that reduces the number of off-target edits to other areas of the genome, which is vital for further research and patient applications. Its researchers are currently developing a patient trial for lung cancer using CRISPR technology.
About ChristianaCare
Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,430 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.
ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 2nd best health system for diversity and inclusion, and the 29th best health system to work for in the United States, and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.
