About AlphaMed

A brief history of AlphaMed Press -- AlphaMed Press was founded in Ohio in 1983 and relocated to Durham, North Carolina 22 years later. AlphaMed Press publishes two internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals: THE ONCOLOGIST®, a monthly cancer medicine journal for those entrusted with cancer patient care, and STEM CELLS®. Approaching its 28th year, STEM CELLS is the oldest journal in the fast-paced area of stem cells and regenerative medicine. Not only is it the first journal to be devoted to this promising research, it remains a the top tier of peer-reviewed monthly journals for this discipline. Established in 1981 by scientists in the service of science, the Journal’s founding editors were Donald Metcalf, Fumimaro Takaku, and the late Laszlo Lajtha with Martin Murphy serving as Editor-in-Chief. This was at the dawn of the stem cells field in which hematopoietic stem cells were confined to the laboratory bench, far from clinical deployment.STEM CELLS was published by Karger in Switzerland from 1981 to 1983. AlphaMed Press began self-publishing the Journal in 1983, assuming the temporary title, The International Journal of Cell Cloning, until 1994, when the Journal reclaimed its founding name, STEM CELLS, which was then trademarked on the Primary Register.

During its first decade, hematopoietic stem cells were being purified and transplanted, manipulated and genetically engineered—in short, a new horizon of opportunities in clinical medicine had emerged. Accordingly, the Editorial Board addressed clinical applications of stem cells, their separation, gene transplantation and other topics within this broad range.

In 2000 Curt Civin was appointed the Journal’s second Editor-in-Chief, a position he continued for eight years of unprecedented growth in the journal's Impact Factor, number of articles published, and number of manuscripts submitted. During his tenure as editor-in-chief, STEM CELLS was also led by three Senior Editors: Alan Gewirtz, Robert Hawley, and Margaret Goodell. With the benefit of a cumulative 26 years of expertise in the field, they instilled the rigorous review process of the original articles and concise reviews describing basic laboratory investigations of stem cells and the translation to patient clinical trials. The Journal also provided a forum for young investigators to present provocative proposals for new research directions. Today, STEM CELLS continues to cover all aspects of stem cells and regenerative medicine: Embryonic Stem Cells/Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells; Tissue-Specific Stem Cells; Stem Cell Technology: Epigenetics, Genomics, Proteomics, and Metabonomics; Cancer Stem Cells; Translational and Clinical Research; Regenerative Medicine.

In 2007, Donald Phinney and Miodrag Stojković succeeded Civin as the Journal’s Co-Editors. They both admirably served as the Journal’s Associate Editors prior to continuing the Journal’s practice providing articles of the highest quality. As Co-Editors, they worked closely with a team of four Associate Editors: Jan Nolta, Majlinda Lako, Margaret Baron, and Mark Pittenger to maintain the standards of excellence in research that the Journal has achieved over more than quarter of a century.

In July of 2009, AlphaMed Press announced the promotion of Stojković to Editor. Stojković is Deputy Director of Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe and head of its Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory, Valencia, Spain. He led the team that first announced derivation of pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESC) from non-viable early human embryos that had stopped their cleavage. First published in STEM CELLS, this technique and stem cells derived with it are now being used to better understand and fight debilitating diseases. Stojković continues to work with associate editors Nolta, Lako and Pittenger to guide the journal in its continued excellence. Each Editor is a world leader in their field and brings many years of experience to the editorial team. Their expertise covers a broad array of stem cell topics, including embryonic stem cells (ESC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), regenerative medicine, and translational medicine.

Jan Nolta, Director of the Stem Cell program at UC Davis, examines the recruitment of human adult and ESC to areas of tissue damage in immune deficient mice, with the aim of developing improved therapies for treating disease. She was a member of the University of Southern California team that succeeded in the first gene therapy trial to treat newborns for ADA deficiency; it shaped her career in translational medicine. Since then, she has specialized in translational, or bench-to-bedside science, and has been involved in 18 clinical trials of gene and cell therapy.

Majlinda Lako, Senior Lecturer in Stem Cells Sciences at the Institute of Human Genetics, Newcastle University, focuses on understanding the critical pathways and factors that are involved in the maintenance of pluripotency, self-renewal, and differentiation of hESC. She is also involved in studies examining the derivation of hematopoietic progenitors from ESC and in studies of retinal and limbal stem cell characterization, differentiation, and transplantation and is a member of the International Stem Cell Initiative, a global collaborative effort to systematically characterize key features, genetics, and growth conditions of the many different hESC lines available worldwide.

Mark Pittenger is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University and a consultant to businesses researching cellular therapies for regenerative medicine. He is on the scientific advisory board of Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing autologous cellular therapies to treat several major illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. He was previously Vice President of Research at Osiris Therapeutics, a leader in adult stem cell therapy, using MSC to repair various types of tissue. A cell biologist for twenty-five years, with a strong interest in the regulation of gene expression, regulatory pathways, cancer biology, and structural biology, his research on MSC includes their isolation and characterization, imaging, trafficking, differentiation, and engraftment, especially in models of myocardial infarction. "I believe the field needs a successful therapy that we can all point to and say cellular therapy works consistently, and predictably, so. Whether that will be graft versus host disease, bone or cartilage repair, improvement in cardiac function or ‘fixing’ a genetic condition by stem cells, we will have to wait and see. The successful translation of research findings to clinical therapies is essential."

Thanks to AlphaMed Press’s laser-guided focus on editorial quality, submissions to STEM CELLS have grown more than 100% since 2005, a byproduct not only of advances being made in stem cell science but also the Journal’s strong reputation. AlphaMed Press has responded by doubling its issue size and increasing its frequency from 10 to 12 issues annually. The Journal has maintained its selectivity, and STEM CELLS’ Impact Factor grew more than 30% from 2005 to 2008. Its 2008 impact factor of 7.741 places it in the top 3% of all high-impact journals.

AlphaMed Press also published online Stem Cells Portal. Launched in June 2007, the Portal is designed to provide the global community of stem cell researchers common linkage among the many regional and international stem cells research tools, labs, organizations, and learned societies.

As part of this mission, AlphaMed Press is committed to shaping editorial boards made up of top scientists and physicians who together provide the editorial direction and maintain the peer-reviewed integrity of its published contents. Both journals and the portal are available online (www.StemCells.com, www.StemCellsPortal.com, and www.TheOncologist.com). AlphaMed also publishes freestanding monographs, books, and is renowned for its excellence and speed in the publication of the proceedings of major international symposia (www.AlphaMedPress.com).