May 23, 2014 -- The American Thoracic Society is pleased to announce that Jadwiga A. Wedzicha, MD, has been selected as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM). Also known as the “Blue Journal,” the AJRCCM is the flagship journal of the ATS. Dr. Wedzicha’s term begins on January 1, 2015.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Dr. Wedzicha assume the AJRCCM editor-in-chief role and continue to build on the great work that her predecessor Jacob Iasha Sznajder initiated during his term,” ATS Journals Publisher Diane Gern says.

Dr. Wedzicha is the clinical chair in Respiratory Medicine at the Imperial College London. Her research focuses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations. An active clinician and researcher, her work in COPD has received continuous funding, and she has published more than 130 original papers with another 160 invited reviews.

“The future of medical publishing lies in the use of the many technological developments currently available, and already the AJRCCM has embraced these with a number of features, including early on-line publication, podcasts, and the ATS Journals App,” Dr. Wedzicha says. “It is important that the ATS journals make full use of these developments and more to further increase the global reach of all their journals.”

An ATS member since 1996 and an attendee at the last 25 ATS International Conferences, Dr. Wedzicha has been a member of the AJRCCM Editorial Board since 2003, and has served as an Associate Editor since 2013. She also serves on the planning committee of the ATS Assembly on Clinical Problems.

Dr. Wedzicha earned her MB and BS in 1978 and her MD in 1985 from the University of London. She earned membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 1980, and completed fellowships at the Royal College of Physicians in 1994 and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013.
From 2002 to 2010, Dr. Wedzicha directed the journal Thorax as its editor when she increased the journal’s international standing, submissions, and impact factor. “Given her vast experience in the medical publishing field and her continued work in understanding COPD, we are confident that Dr. Wedzicha will take the AJRCCM to even greater heights, and continue in its legacy of publishing the most important advances in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine,” says ATS President Thomas Ferkol, MD.