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science may not be the right choice for him . He and his fellow students had just gotten a paper accepted by the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1980 . “ I distinctly remember that moment . We were at a pub in Wisconsin – that ’ s what you did when you got a paper accepted to a good journal – and I remember talking with my graduate instructor and saying that I wasn ’ t that interested in the topic we were studying , which was the ATPase of Escherichia coli . It was just too narrow ,” he said . “ I had achieved some success in the lab , and I just wasn ’ t satisfied with that feeling – it wasn ’ t impactful enough .”
Dr . Negrin emphasized that he understands and appreciates the importance of basic science , but it simply wasn ’ t a home run for him . What was missing ? The connection to people .
“ We all have to recognize how we want to spend our time . For me , it wasn ’ t enough to answer the question posed in the research ; it had to be a question that was important to me ,” he said . “ I fully recognize any basic science is ultimately connected to people , but I needed to answer questions that had a more direct connection . That ’ s been a guiding principle for me .”
That guiding principle took him to Harvard Medical School in Boston , Massachusetts , where he earned a medical degree in 1984 . At that point , Dr . Negrin was deciding between hematology and infectious disease . The former won out , with a residency and a hematology fellowship at Stanford .
But Dr . Negrin didn ’ t give up his basic science roots entirely . In fact , one of his initial impressions of medical school was that the curriculum “ was too broad . It was sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears – I had to find my niche ,” he explained . “ Ultimately , I found that what I enjoyed was being at the interface of science and medicine .”
It ’ s the bench-to-bedside paradigm in medicine that “ constantly amazes and awes ” Dr . Negrin . “ I love that interaction between what we think we need to do to conduct an experiment
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well , and then translating that into the clinic . Those are the ‘ a- ha ’ moments when we realize how much we can impact these patients ’ situations .”
Asked about how the process of translational science has changed over the years , Dr . Negrin cited the growing importance of teamwork .
“ Medicine is getting more complex , and we need different expertise to bring it all together ,” he said . “ As with any team , different players have different positions and that ’ s a good thing . The group is better than the sum of its parts .”
“ I ’ m still a sports enthusiast , and I drive my wife crazy with that , but I love the concept of an effective team ,” he added .
A Hub for Hematology Dr . Negrin hopes to bring that team environment to Blood Advances .
“ The Blood Advances site will provide a platform for hematologists to interact and communicate with one another through discussion boards , videos , podcasts , live chats , and interaction with the study authors — things you can ’ t do with a [ traditional ] journal ,” Dr . Negrin explained .
His goal is to make Blood Advances a hub for hematologists to virtually interact with each other , almost on a real-time basis . For instance , a letter to the editor sent to a traditional journal will take time for editing , review , and publication . Months can go by before the letter is published and the study authors get a chance to respond . Readers will have the opportunity to comment on a
study , or pose a question to the authors online , who will then have the chance to respond on a much faster timeline .
The vision statement for Blood Advances describes the peer-reviewed journal as providing “ novel approaches for presentation of original content , including approaches that can only be performed using an electronic format , including enhanced graphics , video , and discussion .”
Additionally , Blood Advances will “ attempt to complement Blood by publishing content not currently covered , including case reports , point-counterpoint discussions , and the ability to comment on published material readily .”
“ [ We ] have seen the explosion of really interesting science and clinical work in the field . The goal with Blood Advances is to capture that within the hematology community .” — ROBERT NEGRIN , MD
While those are lofty and laudable goals , the question remains , “ Does medicine , and hematology in particular , need another journal ?” Yes , according to Dr . Negrin , but not just any standard journal .
“ I think journals are an important and critical way that we communicate , but they are not an interactive , dynamic tool ,” he noted . “ They certainly have their place , but they don ’ t necessarily fit in as well with the way we communicate these days .”
Blood Advances will consider papers that may not have been a good fit for Blood , but are still scientifically valid , he said .
“ All of us have seen the explosion of really interesting science and clinical work in the field ,” said Dr . Negrin . “ The goal with Blood Advances is to capture that within the hematology community .”
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And it ’ s not just traditional studies or meta-analyses that Blood Advances will consider . Dr . Negrin would like to see his colleagues propose ideas for live chats , video presentations , podcasts , or blog posts . He said the journal will also be open to trying novel ways of sharing information and encouraging professional exchanges .
“ I ’ d like to use it as an incubator for trying new things – for instance , how reviewers interact with each other as they oversee a manuscript ,” he explained . “ Clearly , not all of these ideas will work , but I ’ d like to have the opportunity for people to experiment .” However , he added , Blood Advances will be monitored to ensure users maintain “ professional decorum .”
Finally , Blood Advances will specifically target hematologists in developing nations , an issue that is personally important to Dr . Negrin , who has traveled to Cambodia a number of times to work in local medical clinics .
Among Cambodian healthcare professionals , the enthusiasm for and interest in offering better medicine to their patients – even though they had limited access to scientific data and know-how – impressed Dr . Negrin . He noted that “ everybody had smartphones and everybody had the internet , yet many journals were out of reach – often for financial reasons and occasionally due to a lack of access . I wondered if there could be a way we could communicate with each other globally , on a more direct level .”
Possible avenues for that communication could be discussion groups to review difficult-to-treat cases or live question-and-answer and “ How I Do It ” sessions . “ If we can create the right forum , then there is no reason that we can ’ t all learn from each other ,” he said .
Once again , it ’ s back to baseball – Blood Advances is the team that Dr . Negrin hopes all hematologists will want to play for .
“ I ’ m excited to be able to lead this effort , to use this online format to do some things that you can ’ t do with a print journal , and to help develop that clinical team concept ,” he said . ●
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Authors who submit their papers to the Blood journal can have their papers reviewed simultaneously by Blood Advances ’ editors should the paper not fit into Blood ’ s scope . This “ cascading ” feature is at the author ’ s discretion at the time of submission . There is no additional cost to the author . This feature will guarantee a quicker route to publication if accepted in Blood Advances . The new journal will also accept direct submissions . |