Upcoming changes to CCDR

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be the Editor-in-Chief of the Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) from 2013 to 2019. Over this time, the journal saw enormous growth in terms of readership and number of scientific articles, two redesigns and the introduction of new features, such as author checklists, Rapid Communications, infographics and visual abstracts. In addition, CCDR was reestablished on PubMed a few years ago. In 2013, the Editorial Office started with desks, computers, and a few back issues of the journal. The former office had closed when the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was created in 2004, following the retirement of the former Editor-in-Chief, Eleanor Paulson. For almost a decade, there were no peer-reviewed articles and CCDR published primarily Advisory Committee Statements and summaries of FluWatch. There had been calls to reinstate the journal, including from the Public Health Network Council. In the spring of 2013, the journal office was reinstated as a two-year pilot project. With the unanimous support from all of the Centres in the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch, ongoing funding for the journal was secured in 2014.

Publishing a journal is much like raising a child—it takes a village. CCDR is the result of a small dedicated team. My deep thanks to the Editorial Coordinator, Production Editor and Web Advisor who put together the issue month after month with help from many peer-reviewers, copy-editors, translators, students, a consulting graphic designer and, increasingly, the Associate Scientific Editors. Different Managing Editors have joined as a developmental assignment and have made unique contributions. Many thanks to the CCDR Editorial Board: initially members were enthusiastic colleagues from PHAC and then, as the Board matured, it morphed into the international Board we have today. All through the years, the advice and support of Board members has been incredibly sustaining. Dr. John Last, who recently passed away at the age of 93 years, was an important mentor. In the early 1990s, he encouraged me to become an Editor and continued to provide his friendship and sagacity for many years after he formally retired. One of the joys that we shared of being an Editor-in-Chief was the opportunity to work with authors to transform manuscripts from “diamonds in the rough” to articles that readers find succinct, illuminating and useful. I have learned so much in the process of this work.

And now it is time to become the Editor Emeritus and pass the baton.

I would like to welcome Dr. Michel Deilgat as CCDR’s new Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Deilgat is a public health physician who, after decades with the Canadian Armed Forces as a military physician, has a wealth of experience in operational, occupational and preventive medicine. Dr. Deilgat has been a medical advisor at the Centre for Food-borne, Environment and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CFEZID) at PHAC since July 2011, and has helped develop a new generation of public health professionals as a preceptor for Western University’s Master of Public Health program. Dr. Deilgat has a Master’s degree in Public Administration (École nationale d’administration publique; Université du Québec), a Master’s degree in Health Professions Education (M.Ed.; University of Ottawa) and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Information Studies (University of Ottawa). Dr. Deilgat has been an Editorial Board member since 2014. I am confident the journal will continue to flourish with Dr. Deilgat’s strong links to academia and his commitment to lifelong learning.

 

Dr. Patricia Huston

 

Dr. Michel Deilgat

 

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