Dialogue with Professor Liang-Jun Yan, 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 Liang-Jun Yan, the Associate Editor of the Journal and professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, United States. In this interview, Professor Liang-Jun Yan shares his vision for GPD, as well as his thoughts, suggestions and plans for the success of the journal.

Interview Profile

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan

University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, United States

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan is currently working at University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, United States. Kenneth is involved in Diabetes,Redox Biochemistry, Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress, Acute Kidney Injury  and Chronic Kidney Disease.

Interview content

GPD Editorial Office:  Would you please do a self-introduction?

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: I did my undergraduate study majoring in Biochemistry at Peking University. This was followed by a master degree from the Institute of Biophysics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I then earned my Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology.

GPD Editorial Office: Could you give us a brief description of your research that is currently under way?

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: We study oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in aging and aging-related disease. In particular, we focus on the beneficial mechanisms of oxidative stress and redox imbalance that may turn out to be therapeutic targets. Our current projects are focused on kidney aging and injuries including diabetic kidney disease and acute kidney injury.

GPD Editorial Office: What do you think of GPD differ with other journals in this field?

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: Well, GPD is a newly launched journal and thus is a new player in the biomedical Science. The title of the journal seems to indicate that the journal may be not a good avenue for studies on carbohydrates and lipids. Otherwise, I can’t point out any differences between GPD and other journals that are older than GPD.

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

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: It is always a challenge for a newly launched journal. I think invitation for manuscript submission by editorial board members of GPD would be a good approach. Waive or discount of publication fees would be another approach.

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

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: Getting indexed by SCI takes time and there is no short cut. I would say rigorous reviews by at least two reviewers for any submitted manuscript could ensure quality control. Additionally, publication of excellent review articles would also help tremendously.

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

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: Whether the conclusion is supported by solid data collected by methods that are reproducible.

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

Prof. Liang-Jun Yan: I could only suggest in the area of my research. I think oxidative stress-related genes and proteins that are beneficial for health or for therapeutical purposes should be one focus. Examples are heat shock proteins and their encoding genes.

Thanks to Prof. Liang-Jun Yan 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. Yan every success in his scientific research.