GENETICS, the flagship journal of the Genetics Society of America, is pleased to announce that Howard Lipshitz of the University of Toronto will become its Editor in Chief in January 2021.

Mark Johnston of the University of Colorado School of Medicine has served as Editor in Chief of GENETICS since 2009. Johnston ushered in a new era at GENETICS; his dedication and service led to the modernization of the journal and added to the high standards and prestige of GENETICS. We are grateful to him for his service to the field.

“It has been an honor and privilege to work with the dedicated members of the GENETICS Editorial Board these past twelve years. Many times my heart swelled with pride as I witnessed the care with which they set the standards of the field and helped authors tell their stories,” said Johnston. “I’m confident that will continue under Howard’s leadership. Having worked with him for several years in his role as Senior Editor at G3, I have complete confidence in his vision, his dedication, and his judgment.”

Lipshitz’s appointment comes after an extensive search and interview process, and the GSA Board of Directors and GENETICS editorial staff are thrilled that he has agreed to take on this role. He will work with Johnston through the rest of 2020 to gain insight into the role and to prepare for a seamless transition in the new year.

“I am extremely honored to have been selected as Mark’s successor as Editor in Chief; his are, indeed, giant shoes to fill! As a society-published journal with an editorial board of active scientists and a carefully monitored peer review process, GENETICS is a trusted venue for the publication of innovative research in the field. I look forward to building a new future for GENETICS based on the journal’s strong foundation and its track record of experimentation, especially as the landscape of scholarly publishing continues to grow and change. I am excited to work on expanding the journal’s scientific impact and international recognition in collaboration with the editorial board, editorial staff and our new publisher, Oxford University Press,” said Lipshitz.

About Howard Lipshitz

Howard Lipshitz is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, where his current research focuses on post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in Drosophila. He received his PhD in Biology from Yale University in 1983 and then carried out postdoctoral research in the Biochemistry Department at Stanford University. After almost a decade as Assistant and then Associate Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, he moved to Toronto in 1995 as a Professor at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children. Lipshitz’s career in Toronto has included heading the Research Institute’s Program in Developmental Biology and chairing the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University. A Fellow of the AAAS, he has served on the board of directors of the Society for Developmental Biology, on the North American Drosophila Board, and as one of the founders of the Rare Diseases: Models and Mechanisms Network (Canada). Lipshitz has been a member of the Genetics Society of America since 1979 and has served on the editorial board of G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics since 2011, first as an Associate Editor and, since 2016, as a Senior Editor.

About GENETICS

GENETICS publishes high-quality genetics and genomics research that expands scientific boundaries—we’ve been building the field since 1916. With its broad readership, rich history, and responsive editors, GENETICS brings the latest in publishing innovations to the communities it serves.

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