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Howard C. Bauchner, MD (left), will start as editor-in-chief of JAMA on July 1. Announcing Dr. Bauchner's hiring on March 10 were AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD (center), and AMA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA (right). Photo by Ted Grudzinski / AMA
JAMA appoints new editor-in-chief
■ Howard C. Bauchner, MD, professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine, will assume his new duties July 1.
By Carolyne Krupa — Posted March 10, 2011
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The American Medical Association has named a Boston University School of Medicine graduate, pediatrician and professor as the new editor-in-chief of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Howard C. Bauchner, MD, will start as the 16th editor of the 127-year-old journal on July 1. He has served since 2003 as editor-in-chief of Archives of Disease in Childhood, which is co-owned by the British Medical Journal Group and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Bauchner will continue to elevate JAMA's global influence, said AMA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA.
Dr. Bauchner
"JAMA's accomplished and distinguished history was very much at the forefront of our minds as we began this search," Dr. Maves said during the March 10 announcement of Dr. Bauchner's hiring. "We also knew we had some really big shoes to fill."
Dr. Bauchner will replace Catherine DeAngelis, MD, MPH, who will return to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore after 11 years as JAMA's editor.
Under his leadership, Dr. Bauchner said JAMA will continue to evolve. Medical research will remain the journal's focus, but "other content will be added that I hope will be thoughtful and provocative," he said.
Dr. Bauchner said JAMA will be a regular contributor to important discussions in health care -- including issues such as accountable care organizations, health system reform law, how the U.S. can continue its role as a technological leader in medicine and whether changes should be made to the structure of medical education.
"For me, it's a sacred trust to [lead] a journal such as JAMA," he said.
Dr. Bauchner plans to continue JAMA's progression into the digital age through social media and explore publishing in different languages. "I would like to see some changes both in the way we communicate and the language that we use," he said.
In response to changing reading habits, the journal also will examine shortening research articles, lengthening abstracts and including editorials and commentaries with all research articles.
AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD, who participated in the international editor search, said he was impressed by the number and quality of candidates. "We consider JAMA and its nine journals to be the jewel and an AMA treasure," Dr. Wilson said.
Dr. Bauchner is professor of pediatrics and public health at Boston University. He is the university's vice chair of pediatrics and assistant dean of alumni affairs and continuing medical education.
