Immunity | 2019
25 Years of Exciting Immunology.
Abstract
An anniversary is a good excuse for celebration, and as we mark twenty-five years of Immunity, celebrate we will! But what is the significance of twenty-five years in the life of the journal and in the field of immunology? For the field, in the last twenty-five years, three Nobel prizes have been awarded to discoveries that are rooted in immunology. Yet, for the journal, this milestone is simply a recognition of our continued growth. The journal evolves with the field and we appreciate that progress of science cannot be defined in discrete time periods. This progress is a continuum with no end point, and it is built upon the accumulated wisdom of the community, advancing toward greater clarity and deeper insight. Within this continuum, an anniversary does serve a useful purpose, and that is for us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. Since its inception in 1994, Immunity has strived to be a venue for reporting themost important developments in the field, and in the early days, the academic editors paved the way that led to the current successes. The journal was launched with a distinguished group of editors, namely, Abul Abbas, Frederick Alt, Laurie Glimcher, and Hidde Ploegh at Harvard University and MIT, working with the reviews editors Alfred Singer and the late Charles Janeway, Jr. In 1997, the journal was assigned to Washington University School of Medicine under the expert guidance of Paul Allen, Kenneth Murphy, Robert Schreiber, and Emil Unanue. In 2000, Immunity moved to Yale University andwas edited by another group of eminent immunologists: KimBottomly, Peter Cresswell, Richard Flavell, Sankar Ghosh, Charles Janeway, Jr., Jordan Pober, and David Schatz. Then in 2003, the journal editorial stewardship was transferred to the NIH, under the superb guidance of B.J. Fowlkes, Ronald Germain, Warren Leonard, Lawrence Samelson, and the late William Paul, working with Abul Abbas, Jeffrey Bluestone, and Lewis Lanier as reviews editors. Immunity transitioned to the current ‘‘in house’’ editorial arrangement at the end of 2005. Under the watchful eyes of the academic editors, they established a new standard for immunology research. This standard is reflected in the papers publishedwithin the journal for the depth of understanding required, and these papers helped move the field with bigger strides than was previously expected. During this period, we saw substantial progress reported in the journal on co-receptors including CTLA-4 and PD-1, molecular and cellular understanding of cytokines, pattern-recognition receptors, thymocyte development and T cell receptor signaling, NK cell biology, cell biology of antigen presentation, and molecular understanding of VDJ recombination, among many other areas. In the second half of the history of Immunity thus far, we as the in-house scientific editors have sought to maintain this high standard while publishing an even wider area of research with notable progress in Th17 cells, follicular helper and regulatory T cells, memory T cells, myeloid cell development and function, sensing and activation of innate immunity, cellular metabolism, mucosal immune responses, HIV biology and vaccine generation, neuroimmunology, immunogenic cell death, and cancer immunology, among many other exciting areas of research. Looking forward, where do we want to be in the next twenty-five years? Publishing groundbreaking science continues to be the major focus of the journal. Importantly, we emphasize studies that demonstrate a clear link to health or disease relevance. A hallmark of Immunity papers is also the depth of understanding and the high degree of proof for the given question of investigation. It is important to note, however, that we appreciate that subfields within immunology are at different stages of development and timely dissemination of important discoveries is critical to moving the field forward. Hence, we also offer the shorter Report format to provide a forum for the rapid dissemination of highly provocative, validated findings that will trigger new directions for the field or spur changes in therapeutic applications. Another strength of the content in Immunity is the breadth of our scope. When the journal was founded, Benjamin Lewin wrote, ‘‘The title Immunity is meant to indicate a breadth of interest extending beyond the formal definition of immunology, and into all systems that contribute to, or interact with, the immune response of the organism.’’ This prescient statement not only remains true today, but it may be evenmore relevant than ever. The field of immunology today is important and exciting in part for its intersection with other established fields of biomedical science. We are merely scratching the surface of its connection with neuroscience and how the two major systems interact will be a rich area of discovery. Traditional metabolic diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are tightly regulated by immune responses that require deeper understanding. The promise of cancer immunotherapy has thrust the field of immunology into a very bright spotlight, and although the progressmade is very exciting, there is still much to be learned about the fundamental immunobiology that will lead to more effective and targeted therapies. As the understanding of the wonderful world of the microbiome deepens, the progress toward greater insight into its interaction with the immune system may reveal answers to long-standing questions. Further, the immune system is no longer seen as a collection of soldiers that are programmed to kill non-self when the barrier is breached or to turn toward self when the normal control system breaks down, but rather, it has an important role in maintenance and homeostasis. We are excited to see more of these studies while continuing to maintain a strong interest in all aspects of immunology. As editors of the journal, we aim to contribute to our research community beyond the process of publishing papers. We organize conferences such as Cell Symposia to promote discussion in active areas of research including inflammation and type 2 immunity and to encourage certain direction of investigation such as neuroimmunology and human immunology. We are also sensitive to the broader research and publishing issues such as gender equality, open science, reproducibility, and peer review, all of which we have begun tackling either independently or in conjunction with our Cell Press editorial colleagues. We encourage you to engage us in a conversation in any of these or topics that concern you so that we can work toward a solution together.