image: Kaufman is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Medicine, and Epidemiology at the University of Washington. view more
Credit: University of Washington
Joel Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H., has been named the new Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), a journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. Kaufman will assume the new role on Feb. 1, 2020, upon retirement of the current editor, Sally Darney, Ph.D.
Currently, Kaufman is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Medicine, and Epidemiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he previously served as interim dean for the School of Public Health.
A practicing physician, Kaufman brings extensive experience in both public health practice and research. He has published more than 200 research papers and review articles that span the environmental health sciences. Since joining the University of Washington faculty more than two decades ago, he has maintained a research program that encompasses epidemiology, inhalation toxicology, clinical medicine, and exposure sciences.
Kaufman will provide strategic leadership to EHP while continuing his work at the University of Washington. The arrangement reflects a recent change to the leadership structure at EHP that enables the editor-in-chief to continue conducting research and teaching at their home institution. Under Kaufman's direction, day-to-day operations for the journal will be carried out by full-time federal staff, including the chief operating officer and senior science editor.
"My vision for the journal is a simple one: EHP is, and should remain, the premier international scholarly journal of the environmental health sciences," said Kaufman. "Environmental health science comprises several contributing scientific disciplines, and EHP should work to publish the most exciting and dynamic findings from each of these disciplines."
Kaufman will also serve as the face of EHP, representing the journal to the global environmental health sciences community through strategic outreach activities, speaking engagements, and editorials.
During his career, Kaufman has served on editorial boards and peer review panels for many of the leading clinical medicine and environmental health journals. He previously served on the editorial review board and as an associate editor at EHP, stepping down from those responsibilities to take over as interim dean of the UW School of Public Health in 2016.
A leading publication with a Journal Impact Factor of 8.05, EHP is issued monthly and is available free online. The mission of EHP is to publish high-quality original research, reviews, commentaries, and news on all established and emerging disciplines that examine the relationship between the environment and health. Kaufman will have editorial independence to provide the high-level strategic direction and leadership necessary to sustain and enhance EHP's high standards and stature in the environmental health research community.
Kaufman will be responsible for ensuring EHP content is of high integrity, advances the state of environmental health knowledge, and promotes translation of knowledge into environmental health action, which is consistent with the mission and vision of NIEHS.
"Dr. Kaufman is highly respected for his broad and distinguished research experience. He understands the interdisciplinary nature of environmental health sciences, and that's what we need to maximize the journal's potential for improving people's health," said Rick Woychik, Ph.D., acting director, NIEHS. "I am confident that Dr. Kaufman will continue EHP's tradition of excellence built by the exceptional leadership of Dr. Darney and previous journal editors."
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About the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS): NIEHS supports research to understand the effects of the environment on human health and is part of the National Institutes of Health. For more information on NIEHS or environmental health topics, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov or subscribe to a news list.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
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Contacts:
Christine Bruske Flowers
NIEHS
bruskec@niehs.nih.gov
919-541-3665