Meet the Editors | Interview with Prof. Paul R. Carney—New Editor-in-Chief of Children

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Paul R. Carney has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Children (ISSN: 2227-9067).

Name: Prof. Paul R. Carney
Affiliation: Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Child Health, the University of Missouri at Columbia, USA
Interests: children’s health; pediatric sleep medicine; pediatric epilepsy; biomedical engineering

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Paul R. Carney, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and Open Access publishing:

Part I—Regarding the journal Children:

What appealed to you about the journal Children that made you want to take the role of its Editor-in-Chief?
The quality and impact of articles that the journal Children publishes, such as the last 3 focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents in terms of school closures, risk assessment, and impact on children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders is what initially appealed to me.

What are the expectations you have for this journal? What perspective do you think the journal will bring to the related fields?
I feel that this journal’s perspective that focuses on informing about recent issues affecting youth and children is needed and adds a perspective that was missing.

What do you think of the development of Open Access in publishing?
Open Access, in my opinion, is one way of gaining fresh perspectives on important subjects that affect so many youths and children. Without Open Access, we might miss some of these essential new perspectives.

Part II—Regarding the main fields of interest:

Can you share your career development story briefly? For example, what cases have influenced you the most?
Something that comes to mind is the demand for effective treatments from parents who do not stop trying to push us doctors and researchers to keep searching and researching to improve the quality of their children’s lives. This is how, in Florida, I became involved in the study of cannabidiol for untreatable seizures through a Florida Department of Health grant to study its effectiveness and safety.

As a researcher in children’s health, what are the latest developments in your field?
Some of the latest developments include better medications for seizures, including better drug treatments, surgery, brain stimulation, and precision medicine.

Do you have any valuable suggestions you would like to share with young students and early career researchers?
I would suggest that we listen to the parents and to the youth and children. What do they most need from us to help make their life quality better? If we follow their lead, we will be on the right track.

We wish Prof. Paul R. Carney every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.