Co-Editor in Chief, Respirology It gives me great pleasure to greet you all, my colleagues on the Respirology Editorial Board, members of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), and readers from all over the world. I'm deeply honoured to have been elected by my peers as the incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief for Respirology. I am most grateful to my predecessors, especially Prof Peter Eastwood, who invited me to join the Editorial Board in 2012, first as Associate Editor and later as Deputy Editor. Under the outstanding leadership of Professors Philip Bardin and Paul Reynolds, and through the collective efforts of the editorial team, the impact factor of Respirology has risen above 6. I now face the challenge of sustaining this momentum, which will only be possible with the unwavering support of my fellow Co-Editor-in-Chief Prof Toshiaki Kikuchi, and I thank him for his invaluable guidance. I greatly value finding a balance between preserving and enhancing current practices while embracing newer developments. In recent years, we've seen great advances in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and multi-omics science, with a wide range of applications in respiratory research and education. We anticipate that these developments will lead to more submissions in areas that cross different research disciplines. To accommodate this, we plan to expand our Editorial Board team with scholars who have expertise in AI, omics, and data science. At the same time, we remain committed to advancing conventional areas, including lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory infections, while addressing the challenges of air pollution and climate change impacting respiratory health, and new developments in lung cancer screening, lung nodule management, newer treatment with biologics for airway diseases, and interstitial lung diseases. As the official journal of the APSR, Respirology serves as a vital platform to support and communicate research and educational activities of APSR Assemblies and en-bloc member societies, including the Bangladesh Lung Foundation, the Hong Kong Thoracic Society, the Indonesian Society of Respirology, the Japanese Respiratory Society, the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, the Malaysian Thoracic Society, the Mongolian Respiratory Society, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, the Singapore Thoracic Society, the Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists, the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Viet Nam Respiratory Society. Respirology will continue to provide opportunities to encourage academic, professional, and knowledge exchange activities, especially for the younger and emerging colleagues from the Asian Pacific region. Respirology is also a window for the APSR to reach out to collegiate academic and professional societies such as the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) members including the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the European Respiratory Society (ERS), CHEST, The Union, the Association of Latin America of Thorax (ALAT), and the Pan-African Thoracic Society (PATS), and vice versa. We look forward to participating in collaborative initiatives such as joint society publications, position statements, and practice guidelines in our upcoming term. I look forward to working with my Co-Editor in Chief Professor Kikuchi, all Editorial Board members, and our dedicated Editorial Office team—Dr Lieve Bultynck, Dr Christel Norman, Dr Isabella Joubert, and Dr Rosa Gualano—to bring a new face to Respirology and continue to advance academic and professional knowledge exchange in the Asian Pacific Region and internationally. The author has nothing to report. The author declares no conflicts of interest.
David CL Lam (Sun,) studied this question.