Faculty Profiles

Neuroendocrinologist Named Editor-in-Chief of Top Journal

After a yearlong search process, the Endocrine Society has announced that Jeffrey D. Blaustein '73, PhD '77 (psychology), professor and head of the Behavioral Neuroscience Division of the Psychology Department has been named editor-in-chief of Endocrinology for a five-year term beginning in 2008.  Blaustein is also a member of the Neuroscience and Behavior Program and Center for Neuroendocrine Studies.

Endocrinology, the flagship basic research journal of the Endocrine Society, is in its 90th year of publication. The most prestigious of basic-research endocrine journals, it receives nearly 2,000 manuscript submissions per year and publishes 6,000 pages of original work, ranging from subcellular mechanisms to whole animal physiology. Endocrinology is ranked in the top five percent of all biomedical journals and has annual revenues of close to two million dollars.

In an unprecedented move by the Endocrine Society, Blaustein is the first behavioral endocrinologist and the first member of a psychology department to be selected to lead Endocrinology. In the past three decades, all editors-in-chief of the journal—and probably all of the Society’s journals—have been associated with medical schools or research institutes.

Blaustein, who is the founding director of the Center for Neuroendocrine Studies at UMass Amherst, is currently one of eight editors of Endocrinology and served on the editorial boards of two previous editors-in-chief.  According to the Endocrine Society, he will bring a broad-based view of the field including behavioral neuroendocrinology, cell biology and clinical medicine to the position. As editor-in-chief, he will introduce new approaches, initiatives and directions for the journal. Blaustein, who will appoint eight international editors, will have a local editorial office in addition to the Endocrine Society’s editorial hub in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Says Blaustein, “I am honored to continue the long line of editors-in-chief, who have made Endocrinology the premier journal in its field. Among my goals is to increase representation of excellent papers that integrate multiple levels of investigation. I am thrilled to be the first editor-in-chief from the field of behavioral neuroendocrinology.  The Society’s decision is evidence that this interdisciplinary field is now in the mainstream of endocrinology. Credit is due to my colleagues in behavioral neuroendocrinology, as well as my colleagues in the Center for Neuroendocrine Studies at UMass Amherst.” Blaustein’s term officially begins January 1, 2008, although he and his editorial office will assume responsibilities in October, 2007.

The National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation has supported Blaustein’s research on steroid hormone and steroid receptor mechanisms in the brain for his entire career. He serves on the editorial boards of three major neuroendocrine journals, and has just completed editing a volume in Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology. Besides recently serving as treasurer of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Blaustein is a charter member of the Society for Women’s Health Research ISIS Network on Sex, Gender, Drugs, and the Brain. He is secretary of the Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, on the executive committee of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Science, and has served on numerous federal grant review panels. Back in 1988, UMass Amherst named Blaustein one of "125 Alumni to Watch," an honor he still holds near to his heart.

The international Endocrine Society has 13,000 members from over 85 countries, representing medicine, molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, physiology, genetics, immunology, education, industry and allied health. Society members represent the full range of disciplines associated with endocrinologists: clinicians, researchers, educators, fellows and students, industry professionals and health professionals who are involved in the field of endocrinology. 

November 7, 2006