Dialogue with Professor Kenneth Blum, Associate Editor of Gene & Protein in Disease Journal | ASP Exclusive Interview

In this interview, Gene & Protein in Disease (GPD) journal is honored to have Professor Kenneth Blum, the Associate Editor of the Journal and professor at the Western University of Health Sciences, Division of Addiction Research & Education, Center for Sports, Exercise& Mental Health, USA. In this interview, Professor Kenneth Blum shares his vision for GPD, as well as his thoughts, suggestions and plans for the success of the journal, especially its inclusion in the Science Citation Index (SCI).

Interview Profile

Prof. Kenneth Blum

Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States

Prof. Kenneth Blum is currently working at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States. Kenneth is involved in Genetics of Alcoholism, Nutritional Genetics, Pharmacogenetics, Neuropsychiatry, Neuropharmacology and Epigenetics.

Interview content

GPD Editorial Office: Could you give us a little introduction to yourself?

Prof. Kenneth Blum: Yes. It would be my pleasure. I graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's in science in pharmacy. I then went to Seton Hall College of Medicine, that turned out to be New Jersey College of Medicine, where I got a master's degree in health Sciences. Then I went to New York Medical College then I went to New York medical college and I got a PhD in neuropharmacology. And I was also at Colorado University. I got a fellowship in genetics, and I've been doing research on substance use disorders and other behavioral addictions since 1964.

GPD Editorial Office: Fantastic. Could you give us a brief description of your research that's currently underway?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, my research for years has been looking at the genetics and the epigenetics, potentially of all addictive behaviors, both drugs and non-drugs like gambling and other behavioral addictions. Currently, we're working with a group out of California, Kevin Murthy, Milan Makale, Keerthy Sunder's group, on the idea of using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in a personalized EEG induced signature for different types of addiction, psychiatry in general, PTSD, even trauma. So, this is one of the things we're working on. The second thing we're working on is we're looking at gene editing, the reward genes in the brain, to quote a big word, "cure" all addictive behaviors.

GPD Editorial Office: That's great. What do you think of GPD as being different from other journals in this field?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, it's not so much different. There are so many journals in the field these days, and they all trying to do a good job. I think one thing that stood out is why I decided to join the editorial board of the journal was actually the title/Genes & Proteins in Disease/. I mean, what better way to understand what's going on with all addictive behaviors is to look at the genetics, look at the epigenetics, and then, of course, look at the therapeutics thereof involving proteins and disease. So, I think it's not so much different. It's what the focus of the journal is about. And of course, the entire publishing entity really worries about barriers in publishing involving fees and other such matters.

GPD Editorial Office: That's great. Could you share with us for some ideas and suggestions to promote the development of GPD?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, it's very difficult in terms of promotion, and what we mean by that is that all journals are seeking to get high quality papers. One of the most important ways is to have a good editorial board. The other important way is to be involved with social media and to promote it through social media. But in terms of the scientific community, the thing is to make sure that people understand that there's a rigorous peer review for that particular journal and that it's going to try to keep up the quality of the papers that actually get published. So, it's a matter of bringing in high quality papers, rejecting those papers that are not high quality, and promoting the fact that the journal is doing a highly intellectual job in making the experience really worthwhile for the authors.

GPD Editorial Office: Well said. Could you share with us about the concrete measures and guiding principle for being indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) for GPD?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, the Science Citation Index is very important and most authors, when they look for a journal, they want to make sure that the journal has an impact factor and actually that are in good databases such as Citation Index. Gaining the impact factor is not an easy task, especially for a new journal. But that is the goal. And once you get an impact factor, even if it's low, as long as its official, people begin to respect the journal. So, it's very important to make sure that the journal, in the early days, actually looks at timelines. Make sure that they fill issues with at least five papers per issue, and they have a good track record for a couple of years that they actually were able to publish enough papers to have them be secure in the delivery of the publication on a timely basis. With high quality papers, of course.

GPD Editorial Office: So, on that note, as an editor, what do you look for most when deciding whether a paper can be published in a journal?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, the first thing is the idea of peer review was not the idea to punish the authors, the idea of peer review was to help them and improve the manuscript. Now, I have published over 700 peer review papers in my career and I've sometimes received very strange peer reviews that we didn't like at all, but we had to fight and get it done. Most authors would appreciate actual criticisms that can be translated to bring about transformation of the paper and making it a much stronger paper. So, I think that's one important thing. The other important thing is that all the I's dotted the T's across and you got a really very solid publication. Whether it is a case study or an original paper or review, it has to be full of scholarly remarks that has contribution that each paper should have contribution to the field over and beyond what's been in the field in the past.

GPD Editorial Office: Could you recommend 1-2 current hot topics related to GPD?

Prof. Kenneth Blum:

Well, one of them that I think is very important, of course it's up my alley is the whole idea of trying to utilize genetic testing. Whether it is GWAS which then gets converged to candidate genes and all of addiction psychiatry, the more we understand the genetics and whether it's the predisposition of DNA antecedents or whether it is epigenetic insults that affect transcription through messenger RNA, you need to have both of these kinds of genetic assessments. So, the hot topic would be the general addiction screening with very reliable and accurate genetic testing. The second important topic is the whole idea of pre-addiction. And pre-addiction is now a hot topic that was developed by McLellan, Koob and Volkow, basically saying that we need to get earlier identification of people that possess DNA antecedents. For example, these DNA antecedents are actually insulted by environmental epigenetics. But we have to find ways to assess pre-addiction before the addiction begins. So, in my looking at this topic, we're very excited about suggesting that the genetics of addiction can be measured by a DNA test called Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) and screening people for early identification (vulnerability) is a  hot topic.

Thanks to Prof. Kenneth Blum for taking time out of his busy schedule to attend the interview with editorial department of GPD, and providing support and suggestions for the development of the journal. Here, we sincerely wish Prof. Blum every success in his scientific research.

Appendix:  Please click the link below to view the original Exclusive Interview edio

https://www.veed.io/view/3729e43b-6b6c-41a9-8bfd-50bf14f8e831?panel=share