New open access journal npj Molecular Phenomics announced by Nature Publishing Group and Fudan University, Shanghai
07 July 2015
Nature Publishing Group and Fudan University, Shanghai, will partner to publish npj Molecular Phenomics, a new open access
journal. The news was announced today, when the partners signed an agreement during a ceremony at the campus of Fudan
University. The journal will open for submissions in October 2015.
The journal provides a forum for the most important scientific advances in the emerging field of phenomics, the study of the
physical and chemical expression of gene-environment interactions, their relationships with the underlying genomes, and the relationship of molecular phenotypes with disease risk and response to therapy.
Li Jin, Professor of Genetics, Vice President of Fudan University, Director of Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and
Development (CICGD) and co-Editor-in-Chief of npj Molecular Phenomics said: "It is our hope that new insights in this
important area will lead to a better understanding of disease risk and tools for disease prediction, diagnosis and therapy. We are
delighted to partner with Nature Publishing Group to launch npj Molecular Phenomics."
npj Molecular Phenomics emphasizes studies and applications with impact on human health. Interdisciplinary like the fields it
serves, the journal will encourage and facilitate academic exchanges between basic and clinical researchers and pave the way for comprehensive solutions for precision medicine.
"Phenomics is a fast growing field of study. We are seeing a rapid increase in the establishment of research laboratories and
facilities for phenomics research including in the US, Europe and Asia" said Dr Annette Thomas, Chief Scientific Officer of
Springer Nature. (Nature Publishing Group is part of newly formed joint venture Springer Nature.)
"Fudan University is one of the pioneers in developing phenomics research programs, and has established one of the largest
phenotyping facilities in the world," Thomas continued. "Their research strengths make them the natural partner for npj
Molecular Phenomics. There are few high quality open access journals relevant to this burgeoning aspect of high-throughput
biology, and we're committed to fulfilling this unmet need from the research community."
npj Molecular Phenomics is the second* Nature Partner Journal to be launched in collaboration with an institution in China.
Charlotte Liu, President of Springer Nature in Greater China said: "We're excited to have found an ideal partner in Fudan
University, who share our vision to a build a world class journal in molecular phenomics, an area where China leads new
discoveries and innovations globally. This latest addition to the Nature Partnership Journal family, and our expanding presence,
reaffirm our commitment to the science community, and to publishing the best quality research from scientists based in China."
There are three Editor-in-Chiefs for the new journal; in addition to Professor Li Jin, the other two are Professor Jeremy
Nicholson from Imperial College and Professor Arthur Moseley, Director of Proteomics for the Duke University School of
Medicine. It will be an open access journal, allowing all research to be freely available upon publication to anyone from research
scientists to clinicians interested in phenotypes and disease.
The agreement was signed by Annette Thomas, Li Jin and Deyao Wang from Fudan University Press.
More information on the Nature Partner Journal programme can be found here.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
*npj Computational Materials was announced on March 25 2015.
Fudan University is one of the first pioneers in developing phenomics research programs in both human and mice with one of the largest phenotyping facilities in the world. Starting from 2007, Fudan’s Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences launched a large longitudinal study that has been phenotyping 200,000 healthy individuals and their environmental exposures, including lifestyle factors, once every three years. The Institute of Developmental Biology and Molecular Medicine at Fudan has developed a pipeline to evaluate mouse phenotypes, withover 5,000 strains of mutant mice generated and phenotyped. Since 2012, Fudan has led the effort of establishing the Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development (CICGD) .The CICGD focuses on delineating the relationship between the phenomes and genomes of human and model organisms. With a recent launch of the largest effort of phenotyping 1,000 human physical and physiological traits in 50,000 human individuals, Fudan is becoming one of the world leaders in human phenomics research. Fudan University Press(FDP) is hosted by Fudan University, administrated by the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau. Based on producing high-quality textbooks and creative academic works, FDP remain committed to the inheritance of academic and cultural essence. FDP was one of the first national level presses, and was awarded the "Top 100 Best National Press".
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