By Sharon Jane Chua, Associate Managing Editor, ASTRO journals
The editors of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (Red Journal) are proud to welcome the inaugural batch of trainees enrolled in the Resident Peer Review Training Program (RePRT). This program was established by Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, deputy editor of the Red Journal, to bridge the gap in training a new generation of reviewers.
“Peer review provides a system of checks and balances in the transmission of knowledge—not just in radiation oncology, but across many types of professional activities,” says Dr. Yom, an associate professor in the department of radiation oncology at the University of California San Francisco.
“Yet, despite the usefulness of peer review, there are few structured opportunities to train our residents and early-career fellows on how to participate in useful, high-quality reviews,” Dr. Yom says. “RePRT was designed to provide an opportunity to be involved in peer review early in one’s career and see how even high-quality research benefits from peer critique and engagement.”
Red Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Zietman, MD, FASTRO, who practices at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, applauds the effort: “Excellent reviewers are an invaluable asset to any scientific journal, and it is in our best interest to cultivate the next generation of reviewers.”
“As experienced academics, clinicians and editors, we have a huge obligation to train—and to train well—those who come after us,” Dr. Zietman says. “Good peer reviewers carefully filter the science and define the safe and effective practice of radiation therapy. The Red Journal is privileged to be able to provide this service to our community.”
The inaugural batch comprises 50 trainees and includes representatives from countries as diverse as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, India, Poland, Portugal, Singapore and Switzerland. Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States are well-represented in this group. According to Dr. Yom, the diversity of the participants will greatly add to the dialogue and provide multicultural perspectives in the science of radiation oncology.
“We were gratified by the enthusiastic response of trainees to our program. We are especially excited to work with trainees in countries less frequently represented in our author or reviewer pools, as we are committed to the international community of the Red Journal and expanding our viewpoints and audience,” says Dr. Yom.
As part of the program, each trainee will be required to complete eight reviews over a span of three years to be eligible for the certificate of completion. Trainees will receive in-depth feedback and mentoring on their reviews from the editors of the Red Journal to hone their skills in rigorous peer review. In addition to the certificate of completion, exceptional participants will also be included in the journal’s yearly acknowledgment of its outstanding reviewers.
RePRT will open recruitment for the second cohort of trainees in the Fall of 2018; in the interim, if you are interested in signing up to become a reviewer for the ASTRO journals, please send an email to [email protected]. All three of ASTRO’s journals are always looking for interested reviewers.
2017-2018 RePRT Participants
The editors of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (Red Journal) are proud to welcome the inaugural batch of trainees enrolled in the Resident Peer Review Training Program (RePRT). This program was established by Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, deputy editor of the Red Journal, to bridge the gap in training a new generation of reviewers.
“Peer review provides a system of checks and balances in the transmission of knowledge—not just in radiation oncology, but across many types of professional activities,” says Dr. Yom, an associate professor in the department of radiation oncology at the University of California San Francisco.
“Yet, despite the usefulness of peer review, there are few structured opportunities to train our residents and early-career fellows on how to participate in useful, high-quality reviews,” Dr. Yom says. “RePRT was designed to provide an opportunity to be involved in peer review early in one’s career and see how even high-quality research benefits from peer critique and engagement.”
Red Journal Editor-in-Chief Anthony Zietman, MD, FASTRO, who practices at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, applauds the effort: “Excellent reviewers are an invaluable asset to any scientific journal, and it is in our best interest to cultivate the next generation of reviewers.”
“As experienced academics, clinicians and editors, we have a huge obligation to train—and to train well—those who come after us,” Dr. Zietman says. “Good peer reviewers carefully filter the science and define the safe and effective practice of radiation therapy. The Red Journal is privileged to be able to provide this service to our community.”
The inaugural batch comprises 50 trainees and includes representatives from countries as diverse as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, India, Poland, Portugal, Singapore and Switzerland. Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States are well-represented in this group. According to Dr. Yom, the diversity of the participants will greatly add to the dialogue and provide multicultural perspectives in the science of radiation oncology.
“We were gratified by the enthusiastic response of trainees to our program. We are especially excited to work with trainees in countries less frequently represented in our author or reviewer pools, as we are committed to the international community of the Red Journal and expanding our viewpoints and audience,” says Dr. Yom.
As part of the program, each trainee will be required to complete eight reviews over a span of three years to be eligible for the certificate of completion. Trainees will receive in-depth feedback and mentoring on their reviews from the editors of the Red Journal to hone their skills in rigorous peer review. In addition to the certificate of completion, exceptional participants will also be included in the journal’s yearly acknowledgment of its outstanding reviewers.
RePRT will open recruitment for the second cohort of trainees in the Fall of 2018; in the interim, if you are interested in signing up to become a reviewer for the ASTRO journals, please send an email to [email protected]. All three of ASTRO’s journals are always looking for interested reviewers.
2017-2018 RePRT Participants
- Ramiz Abu-Hijlih, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Ashley Albert, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi
- Gaurav Bhattacharya, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Dejan Ćazić, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Mudit Chowdhary, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Mark Corkum, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
- Rohann Correa, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
- Shraddha Mahesh Dalwadi, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Aneesh Dhar, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Brandon Alan Dyer, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California
- Hoda ElKhodary, Ain Shams University Hospital, Abbasseya, Cairo, Egypt
- Yannick Eller, Clinique Bernoise Montana, Switzerland
- Chelain Goodman, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, McGaw Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Jeffrey Gross, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
- Sara Hardy, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
- Zachary Horne, Hillman Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Sergio Jaramillo, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Kamalram Thippu Jayaprakash, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
- Michael Jones, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Aileen Kim, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
- Yu Kuang, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Anna Lee, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York
- Scott Lester, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
- Gary Lewis, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
- Yichen Li, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
- Xifeng Liu, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
- Fenghong Liu, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island
- Meghan Macomber, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
- Bindu Manyam, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
- Neil Newman, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
- Daniel Przybysz, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
- Jorge Leitão Santos, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Norte, Lisboa, Portugal
- Pablo Munoz Schuffenegger, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Ashutosh Das Sharma, The Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
- Catherine Spina, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
- Karna Sura, Beaumont Hospital, Troy, Michigan
- Hilâl Tekatli, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Bartłomiej Tomasik, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
- Charles Vu, Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, Michigan
- Hui Wang, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Tracy (Jia-Xin) Wang, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore
- Cheng-Chia Fred Wu, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
- Susan Wu, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Melody Xu, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- Zhengyu Yang, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
- Emi Yoshida, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
- Mehran Yusuf, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
- Yin Zhang, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Rongxiao Zhang, Harvard Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
- Tina (Wanting) Zhang, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada