June 4, 2019 | Sheila Foran/School of Pharmacy

José Manautou Named Co-Editor of Current Opinion in Toxicology

This UConn School of Pharmacy professor of pharmacology and toxicology believes in the power of effective scientific communication.

Jose Manautou with student in lab

Student with Professor José Manautou in the lab. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

José Manautou, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has been named co-editor-in-chief of the journal Current Opinion in Toxicology (COT).

Jagna Mirska-Gent, senior publisher at the Amsterdam-based Elsevier, a leading publisher of scientific, medical, and technology publications, announced Manautou’s appointment. She said, ”I am delighted that Dr. Manautou decided to join Current Opinion in Toxicology in the role of co-editor-in-chief and together with Dr. Martin van den Berg of the Utrecht University in the Netherlands, will take the leadership of this respected review, invitation only title. José’s scientific achievements and standing, as well as his charismatic vision for the journal, will no doubt bring COT to the next level and further enhance the field of toxicology.”

José Manautou, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

In accepting this role, Manautou said that from the beginning of his career he has been engaged in editorial activities, including writing scientific articles, serving on editorial boards, and acting as a peer reviewer for numerous journals. “I enjoy providing constructive criticisms and new ideas,” he said, “and being able to bring science to a higher level of sophistication and completeness is an important part of my career.”

Manautou is replacing Professor Kendall Wallace, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth, as co-editor of the journal. Wallace said, “I was a founding editor of Current Opinion in Toxicology when it was first established in 2016. My goal was to help launch what will become an internationally respected source for engaging scientific opinion and debate. Having served my term as co-editor, my task turned to helping the publisher identify a suitable successor.

Toxicology Journal cover“Current Opinion in Toxicology is an international journal that seeks to publish invited short, authoritative, and provocative articles on various topics pertinent to the field of toxicology. To be successful, my successor needed to be someone with an international reputation, for not only their scientific accomplishments, but also one who is highly respected for their leadership and engagement skills. With these criteria in mind, it was quite simple to identify Dr. Manautou as the lead candidate to assume my responsibilities as co-editor of the journal.”

Manautou has a lengthy record of editorial contributions to scientific publications. He recently stepped down as associate editor of the Journal of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, in order to assume his new duties as co-editor of COT. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the journals of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Toxicological Sciences, Drug Metabolism Reviews, AIMS Medical Sciences, Toxicology in Vitro, BBA Molecular Basis of Disease and the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology. He is also an ad hoc reviewer for many toxicology, pharmacology, and hepatology journals.

For his part, Manautou says that he isn’t taking on the role of co-editor of COT out of a sense of obligation, or because it is something expected of an academician. “I’m really excited about this opportunity,” he says, “because I strongly believe I can make a difference by making sure that the  information in COT continues to be accurate, current, and impactful. I want to be at the forefront of scientific discovery and I want to share that information with researchers, students, and others who are committed to respected scientific inquiry.”