A Note from Dave’s Desk

September: A Month to Celebrate Our Community

September is a unique month that celebrates two overlapping, though certainly important, parts of the ASPET community: National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) and Peer Review Week.

NPAW was formally started in 2009 by the National Postdoctoral Association (of whom ASPET is an Associate member) to recognize the significant contributions that postdoctoral scholars make to U.S. research and discovery. This year, NPAW will take place September 16–20, 2024, with a wide variety of events being held by the entire biomedical community to create awareness and appreciation of the role postdocs play in scientific research. ASPET is proud to call hundreds of postdocs members of the Society as we aim to provide the resources and support their community needs. For example, ASPET provides postdocs with travel awards to the attend the ASPET Annual Meeting, opportunities to gain new professional development skills through the ASPET Mentoring Programs, including our new ASPET MentorMatch, and recognition for excellent articles published in one of ASPET’s journals through our Highlighted Trainee Authors program.

Speaking of ASPET’s journals, Peer Review Week also occurs this month from September 23–27, 2024. This year’s theme, “Innovation and Technology in Peer Review,” inspired us to ask some of our Journal Editorial Fellows to share their opinion on the impact of technology on journal publishing, which you can read about in this month’s issue. ASPET is incredibly grateful for the time and effort provided by the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of peer reviewers and editors who ensure that JPET, DMD, MolPharm, PharmRev, and PR&P maintain scientific integrity in everything we publish. As part of that peer review process, ASPET is excited to be partnering with Elsevier on our journals program in 2025, where our peer reviewers and editors will be able to take advantage of the innovation and technological resources provided by Editorial Manager.

Both in September and year-round, ASPET is truly appreciative of everything our postdoctoral members provide to the pharmacology community. Additionally, we are very thankful for the critical impact our peer reviewers have on the entire ASPET journals program.