In 2023, PM reviewers continue to make outstanding contributions to the peer review process. They demonstrated professional effort and enthusiasm in their reviews and provided comments that genuinely help the authors to enhance their work.
Hereby, we would like to highlight some of our outstanding reviewers, with a brief interview of their thoughts and insights as a reviewer. Allow us to express our heartfelt gratitude for their tremendous effort and valuable contributions to the scientific process.
August, 2023
Ahmed Uosef, Houston Methodist Hospital, USA
August, 2023
Ahmed Uosef
Dr. Ahmed Uosef, MD, is a research associate at department of surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas, USA. He has a long-standing interest in the role of macrophages in the development of inflammation and organ transplant rejection. Through the last 7 years, he has built an extensive expertise in studying macrophage cellular cytoskeleton and signaling pathways involved in cytoskeleton regulation and phagocytosis. He has also conducted significant research on the effects of macrophages in the pathogenesis of chronic transplant rejection. He demonstrated that rejection of allografts was preventable through the inhibition of the RhoA pathway and ROCK kinase inhibition of macrophage infiltration. Their recent studies showed that fingolimod effectively inhibited the RhoA pathway, reducing organ rejection.
Dr. Uosef reckons that peer review remains the backbone of the publishing process and places the reviewer, along with the author, at the center of academic publication. In addition, he thinks peer review acts as a filter to ensure that only high-quality research is published by determining the validity, relevance and originality of the publication, and maintains scientific integrity by filtering out erroneous or low-quality articles. It improves the quality of manuscripts considered for publication and confirms that research and findings are relevant, well thought out and valuable to the field.
Dr. Uosef believes that producing a positively worded, constructive and objective report can really influence the author and ultimately makes his job more rewarding. He always thinks about how to shape his feedback and criticism in a positive way. The goal is simply to empower and inspire writers to develop their ideas, never to intimidate them with harsh, destructive comments.
Dr. Uosef emphasizes that data sharing is critical for authors to share their research data. This has many advantages for both the scientific community and for individual authors. From the point of view of the scientific community, information sharing accelerates research, improves reproducibility and increases the impact of results. When researchers share their knowledge, other researchers can leverage this work and make new discoveries more quickly. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the subject and the development of new technologies and treatments. Furthermore, for an individual author, sharing information can help increase the visibility and impact of a work. When authors share their knowledge, other researchers are more likely to cite their work, which can lead to increased citations and a higher h-index. In addition, information sharing can help creators attract funding and collaboration.
To encourage other reviewers, Dr. Uosef says, “Peer review is a vital element in the submission of research proposals, and the medical community requires devoted specialists to progress the subject with honesty and integrity. Reviewers are critical in guiding the course of scientific advancement. The devotion and experience of reviewers have an influence on the quality and dependability of study findings. Remember that the constructive input and thorough evaluation of reviewers directly contribute to the growth of knowledge. The time and effort that reviewers put into this process may not always be visible, but it is clearly significant.”
(By Lareina Lim, Brad Li)
