Mary Ann Liebert launches 'Human Gene Therapy Methods' journal

Dedicated to technological advances in gene therapy

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. announces the launch of a journal expansion, Human Gene Therapy Methods, to complement the flagship publication Human Gene Therapy. HGT Methods, which is officially Part B of Human Gene Therapy, is dedicated to publishing technological advances in cell and gene therapy that promote the development of gene therapy products into successful therapeutics. While Methods has always been a key element of the flagship journal, HGT Methods breaks new ground as the first publication to exclusively focus on the applications of gene therapy to product testing and development. HGT Methods will publish bimonthly and will premier in January 2012, with accepted articles appearing online ahead of print beginning in November 2011. Editor-in-Chief, James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, introduces this exciting journal expansion in this month's Editorial.

The field of gene therapy is rapidly evolving and holds great promise for its applications to treating human diseases, yet no product has been commercialized. Better methods are needed to evaluate the outcome of gene transfer technologies which are just entering the clinic. Likewise, standards for producing and characterizing products for distribution to patients have yet to be determined. HGT Methods answers the growing need for a central forum for nurturing, promoting, and advancing new technologies and methods that will ultimately pave the way for product development.

The existing leadership team of Human Gene Therapy, together with the newly appointed HGT Methods Editor, Thierry Vanden Driessche, PhD, will be responsible for the development and management of this new Journal.

"Gene therapy was predicted to revolutionize the practice of medicine," according to James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. "After 30 years of research and recent successes in Phase I clinical trials, it appears the revolution is upon us. For this revolution to realize its true potential we need to translate proof-of-concept studies in small human trials to commercialized products that become standard clinical practice. Human Gene Therapy Methods will be the venue for publishing the technological advances necessary for gene therapy products to be developed as successful therapeutics."