Technology is making our world smaller — and I mean that in the best way possible. When it comes to sharing information and learning from one another, distance is increasingly irrelevant.
Whether we’re talking about the exponential rise of social media or the tremendous strides we’ve seen with virtual meetings and conferences, we are growing more connected globally by the day. On a personal note, this heightened connectivity has helped me professionally and enriched me personally, allowing me to collaborate with colleagues and make new friends around the world.
In this environment, an organization such as ASH — one that is passionately committed to advancing medicine, serving both clinicians and scientists — can have a footprint far greater than a physical street address alone might suggest.
ASH has long recognized that fact, welcoming speakers from around the world to speak at its conferences and publish their papers, and traveling the globe, with its Highlights of ASH international program, to share the top hematology research that is presented at the ASH annual meeting.
ASH is now taking its dedication to supporting and serving hematologists around the world a step further with a new journal, Blood Global Hematology, which will open for submissions this fall.
Blood Global Hematology will be a peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on the publication of high-quality original articles describing basic laboratory, translational, and clinical investigations in hematology research that address issues of global reach or with a global focus. Additionally, the journal will publish local adaptations of clinical guidelines, epidemiology and public health analyses, opinion articles, and prospective studies evaluating locally available treatments for blood disorders. The journal will provide a new avenue for researchers who may have resource constraints or face health care delivery challenges.
In the succinct words of Jorge Cortes, MD, who will serve as the editor-in-chief of Blood Global Hematology: “Our aim will be for this journal to improve science and patient care worldwide.”
ASH’s embrace of research from aboard is not new. The journal Blood has long served as a highly esteemed publication by which hematologists from around the world can share their findings. That practice will continue.
With Blood Global Hematology, ASH will add to its growing portfolio of respected journals, weaving new threads into a rich tapestry of research that has broadened our understanding of blood disorders and elevated the care we deliver to patients.
Blood Global Hematology will amplify ASH’s international reach and provide a new opportunity for authors, especially those from low- and middle-income countries, to connect with their peers. I expect the journal will help to enrich our understanding of diverse — and too often ignored — patient populations.
Blood Global Hematology also might serve as a reminder that learning defies geographic borders and economic disparities. There’s no doubt that countries with strong economies and abundant resources are able to invest in medicine and science research in ways that developing countries cannot. But we have much to learn from hematologists in countries with resource limitations. They are forced to innovate in ways that wealthier countries are not, and their understanding of their patient populations will allow us to see challenges and opportunities with fresh perspectives.
When I think about the upcoming launch of Blood Global Hematology and ASH’s ever-growing sense of international service and support for the hematology community, I see more walls crumbling and more bridges being built. I see more possibility and fewer limits.
I am reminded of a character from a beloved movie who urged his friends to dream big. As we seek to conquer blood diseases on a global stage, let us be inspired by the words of Buzz Lightyear: “To infinity and beyond.”
