Announcements

We were very pleased to announce an impressive interview with Prof. Robert J. Gregory, who has just published an outstanding article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN: 1660-4601). In this interview, we delve into the latest advancements, challenges, and future directions of his research.

Name: Prof. Robert J. Gregory

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA

Interests: borderline personality disorder; suicide prevention; addictions; psychotherapy

Published Paper: “Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy for Suicidal Adolescents: Effectiveness of Routine Care in an Outpatient Clinic”
by Rebecca J. Shields, Jessica P. Helfrich and Robert J. Gregory
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(7), 929; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070929
Article Link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/7/929

The following is an interview with Prof. Robert J. Gregory:

I am a researcher, clinician, and teacher, and I was part of a regional youth mental health task force. Back in 2016, one of the recommendations from that task force was to improve care for suicidal individuals in our region. Since around 2007-2008, adolescents in the United States—and to some extent worldwide—have not been doing well. Even before the pandemic, there were rising rates of suicide and suicide attempts. In fact, during that time in the United States, there was a fivefold increase in adolescents coming to emergency rooms for suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts. The health system was overwhelmed, and we did not have adequate services for them. Frankly, we still do not have enough.

In 2017, I established a program called the Psychiatry High Risk Program, specifically for suicidal teens and young adults. The program utilizes an evidence-based psychotherapy that I developed about a decade earlier, called Deconstructive Dynamic Psychotherapy (DDP). Although DDP was well researched, it had not been used specifically for suicidal individuals. We decided to apply it to this population because it targets core vulnerabilities that lead to suicide—vulnerabilities such as impaired emotion processing, poor self-compassion, feelings of worthlessness, and a sense of alienation and isolation.

The goal of DDP is to address these core vulnerabilities over the course of up to a year, offering transformative healing rather than just helping people cope with their psychiatric disorders. Our recent study focused on adolescents aged 13 to 17 in our program. We looked at 65 consecutive adolescents who were highly suicidal, with a median of seven lifetime suicide attempts per person. Over six months, there was an 84% reduction in suicide attempts and a significant reduction in suicidal ideation. We also saw broad improvements in depression, anxiety, self-compassion, social functioning, and school performance, as well as a two-third reduction in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, saving an average of four hospital days per patient.

There is little research on adolescent suicide interventions, and our recovery-based approach seems to be working. I hope other institutions will consider adopting a similar model, as there is nothing about our program that cannot be replicated in other communities.

One of the challenges that we face is that this is a self-supporting program. We do not receive any state funding or other government support. We have received some donation money, which has been very helpful and has allowed us to conduct certain studies. One particularly helpful aspect was working with a few managed medical companies to secure slightly higher reimbursement rates. Unfortunately, the state did not cooperate, as they have a different, more short-term model in mind. However, the managed medical insurance companies were willing to work with us given our outcomes, especially since we were saving them a significant amount of money by reducing hospitalizations. This has allowed us to treat those patients who may not have private insurance or the means to afford it.

In terms of dissemination, I have found that it can be a significant challenge for any innovative treatment model. People are often skeptical of data unless they see patients improving with their own eyes. We have had some interest from different places around the world, and we have conducted training in Mexico and Israel and a residency program in North Carolina. We have also trained staff at a hospital in San Diego. However, progress is slow because of skepticism. Once people see the power of the method, especially in adolescents or young adults who have not responded to multiple other treatments, they become much more open to it.

Globally, the trend is moving in the opposite direction towards short-term interventions such as ten-session CBT or three-session approaches. While these have their benefits, particularly in helping people become less suicidal and get through a crisis, they also have limitations. Because these approaches are so short-term, they do not address the core vulnerabilities, which means that they do not break the cycle of chronicity. As a result, people may still be at risk when the next major stressor arises.

I hope it inspires them to see that there is another way—that they actually can make a difference. Many of the therapists I train, both regionally and internationally, are feeling burnt out. They feel like they are in a mill, trying to do the best they can, but no one is getting better, and clients keep cycling back into the clinic. This can be very discouraging. However, one thing that I have noticed with the training is that the morale of the therapists I train significantly improves. After initial skepticism, when they start seeing changes in their clients, they get really excited about it. Almost no therapist who begins training leaves; nearly all of them continue because they are inspired by the transformational changes they witness.

There is so much psychotherapy today that is ineffective, more akin to hand-holding and offering advice to get people through crises. Compared to 20 or 30 years ago, many have given up on psychotherapy as a solution. It can be hard to even get psychotherapy studies published, because not everyone realizes that not all therapy is the same. The counseling you might get in the community is very different from evidence-based, focused, structured psychotherapy. Many people are turning to quick solutions for their suicidality—a better drug, a new boyfriend or girlfriend—without realizing that more transformative healing is possible. They do not need to live the rest of their lives suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts.

Most of our clients have been struggling with suicidal thoughts since at least their early teens, and they are amazed and relieved when those thoughts finally go away for the first time in their lives. I have had clients tell me that they have been on their knees in their living room, with tears streaming down their faces. They are finally free from depression and suicidal thoughts. It is an incredibly gratifying treatment for the therapist as well. In most clinics, there is a lot of staff turnover, but we have almost zero turnover because therapists feel like they are finally making the kind of meaningful impact they hoped for when they entered the field.

I would say, contact me or email me at my email address. I am the corresponding author on the paper published. Email me to express an interest in collaboration. In fact, that is how the collaborations with Israel and Mexico started. Very often, it begins that way, and then we conduct research and publish together. It is about getting the word out. I love to collaborate, and it is definitely possible to do that.

I thought the process was a very good one. Publishing in IJERPH followed a rigorous scientific process. The peer reviews I received were objective and very helpful. We had two peer reviews as part of the manuscript submission process and were able to make the necessary changes. Once we had the final manuscript, the publication process went very quickly—within a week or two, we were able to publish it. I have been very impressed with the efforts towards dissemination and the partnership in that process. This interview is a good example of that. I definitely plan to make submissions to this journal in the future, as it has been a very positive experience thus far.

I think there has been a real transformation over the last 20 years in how knowledge is disseminated within the field of medicine more broadly, and also in psychiatry and mental health. Open access has clearly been the direction of the future, and indeed, the present, over the last 20 years. With search engines, it is now relatively easy to find the information you need, and the process of obtaining information out there through an open access journal is much faster. I am used to articles, once accepted, taking six months to a year before being published, rather than one to two weeks. The ability to have new findings disseminated quickly and make them available in search engines, where people can easily find them, is incredibly helpful.

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising early career scientists, acknowledge their contributions, and foster collaboration within the scientific community. We are proud to announce the recipients for 2023, who were carefully selected by the journals’ esteemed Award Evaluation Committee.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 79 winners of MDPI’s 2023 Young Investigator Awards for their excellent contributions in their research field. We look forward to seeing these rising stars continue to contribute to the advancement of science.

MDPI will continue to support and recognize the academic community. To explore details about the awardees by field, please visit the individual pages listed below:

Congratulations to all the winners for their exceptional contributions and dedication to advancing scientific research.

About MDPI Awards:
To support the academic community, particularly young researchers, and to enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help to elevate the profiles of talented individuals who have made outstanding achievements and are making significant contributions to advancements in their respective fields.

To find out more about MDPI awards, please click here.

Conference: 1st International Conference of Environmental Medicine—Environmental Threats to Human Health: From Genetics to Epigenetics
Date: 11 September 2024
Location: Chieti, Italy

The 1st International Conference of Environmental Medicine is presented by the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA) and the University "Gabriele d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, addressing the impacts of environmental exposures on human health with an epigenetic perspective. The event is organized in collaboration with the Environmental Health Research Organization (EHRO), the Spanish Society of Environmental Medicine and Climate Changes (SESMA), and the Laureate Science Alliance (LSA). Fostering the application of the precautionary principle, the conference aims to promote a new vision of medicine and epidemiology focused on the primary prevention of the most common diseases or conditions where the role of environmental exposures has already been investigated in the medical literature.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• IJERPH;
• Diseases;
• Air;
• Infectious Disease Reports;
• Biology;
• Adolescents.

Join us as we engage with our IJERPH 2023 Outstanding Reviewer Award winner, Dr. Carol Nash, to discuss her scholarly insights and journey as a reviewer for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN: 1660-4601).

Name: Dr. Carol Nash
Affiliation: History of Medicine Program, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1W7, Canada
Interests: self-directed learning; narrative research; history of medicine; health promotion; bioethics

The following is an interview with Dr. Carol Nash:

1. Can you give us a brief introduction of yourself and the main content of your current research? Additionally, could you share some emerging research directions in this field?
I am a full-time researcher, devoting time to writing articles and reviewing for peer-reviewed journals. I write and review by responding to the invitations I receive from journals. My current research concerns the responses of various appointment-based medical specialties to emergency redeployment during COVID-19. I recently published a comprehensive examination of the reaction of several specialties. I am now writing articles for various journals on the response of individual appointment-based medical specialties during the COVID-19 redeployment. The outcome of each specialty differed. I mention the emerging research directions for this topic in my recent publication: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-7914/1/2/19.

2. When and how did you first become aware of the open access IJERPH journal? How do you think open access impacts scholar communities?
In 2018, the MDPI journal Challenges invited me to review a submission. This manuscript was the first review I did for any MDPI journal. In 2019, I received my first invitation from IJERPH to review an article. By the end of 2019, I had refereed six papers for IJERPH. I cannot speak for scholar communities; I can only speak for myself. How it impacted me was to redirect how I structured my research to fit the requirements of MDPI journals. I am very supportive of research being open to all.

3. Which qualities do you think reviewers need?
To learn what qualities I believe reviewers need, please see my article on this topic in the MDPI journal Publications: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/11/2/32.

4. What are the key factors and aspects that you consider most when reviewing a manuscript?
Again, rather than me providing a short answer here to this question, please read my article: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/11/2/32. It provides the answers.

5. Based on your rich reviewing experience, could you please share the common problems that authors face?
One common problem that authors face regarding the review process is that they often fail to read the review thoroughly, jumping to conclusions concerning their response. When this happens, it prolongs the review process, as the reviewer must ask the authors more than once to make the same changes. Another problem is that authors often neglect to see the value in ensuring that their citations reference both seminal work and current research, demonstrating that the interpretation of the original work cited remains the same. In many cases, the interpretation has changed, requiring that authors provide a history of the term’s evolution. For those authors for whom English is not their first language, submissions are sometimes written in poor English. When the English language usage is difficult to decipher, reviewers are less likely to take up the invitation to do the review, and it takes longer for the author to receive the review. To ensure a review of their work, authors should use an aid, such as Grammarly, to check their English before they submit.

6. What are the advantages of the MDPI review platform in your opinion?
The advantages of the MDPI review platform are as follows: it is standardized for most (but not all) MDPI journals, allows reviewers to examine their past reviews indefinitely, permits reviewers to see the reviews of the other referees of an article once all the reviews are in, and these other reviews are also available in perpetuity.

7. What’s the secret to a happy scientific life? Have you ever encountered any difficulties conducting research, and how did you overcome them?
As a researcher who has (among other topics) focused on burnout in researchers, the secret to a happy scientific life is researching because you want to find out the truth and will not be satisfied until you do. There is a difference between researching because it is fun and researching because you are looking for the truth. If your focus is fun, when work gets hard, you likely give up and will not be happy continuing the research. A researcher driven by the desire for truth is not concerned with what is momentarily fun. What is relevant is being self-directed in your research process based on a passion for finding the truth. An article of mine in the MDPI journal Challenges focuses on the happiest and most self-directed researcher I ever met. Here is a link to that article: https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/13/2/45. It gives a more detailed answer to this question.
Regarding whether I have ever encountered any difficulties conducting research, before computers and the internet, my problems when researching were innumerable. In the past, to write an article, a researcher had to have access to the appropriate library and spend hours searching journals and books by hand to find the needed information. Notes were hand-written and then transcribed to the typewriter. The only mechanized part of researching then was that at least I had an electric, rather than manual, typewriter! It was almost impossible to be published as there were few journals, and the time reviewers took to read and comment on the article meant that submissions often took years to complete the acceptance process. Research in those days was agony. The only researchers who could get ahead in this system were those who had enough money to have secretaries and many research assistants to complete the work that was drudgery. Now, with computers, the internet, and so many journals to choose from for publication, one lone researcher can do the work of twenty in the past and have the results published in a tenth of the time it used to take. This time is history’s golden period for research.

In May, MDPI Romania held three author training sessions – one endorsing an external event and two stand-alone sessions.

The National Session of Scientific Student Communications took place at Technical University Cluj on 17 and 18 May 2024. MDPI Romania sponsored this event and contributed an author training session on the production of research papers and case study analyses. JRS Norbert Kiss gave a presentation called The World of Open Access to explain different open access publishing models and the benefits of open access publishing. His presentation highlighted the impact of open access publishing on scientific progress and innovation.

On 29 May 2024, MDPI Romania hosted an author training session for Ph.D. students, early career researchers, and professors at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In collaboration with Prof. Andreea Arsene, JRS Ioana Paunescu prepared two presentations: The Steps of the Publishing Process and Elaboration of a Peer Review Report. In her first presentation, she delved into MDPI’s history and mission, MDPI’s editorial process, and MDPI journals of various scopes that are accepting submissions. Her second presentation outlined the types of peer review, the contents of a peer review report by an MDPI reviewer, and the responsibilities of an MDPI reviewer.

MDPI Romania also hosted an author training session at the Iasi University of Life Sciences on 29 May 2024. JRSs Laurentiu Preda and Cosmin Artan gave four presentations: Efficient Writing of an ISI-Indexed Scientific Article, Benefits of Publishing in the Open Access Model, Various Methods of Open Access Publishing, and MDPI Guide for the Article Review Process. The first three presentations offered guidance on how to improve academic writing, the fourth focused on how to write peer review reports. A highly interactive discussion followed the presentations, during which the JRSs provided extensive answers to attendees’ questions.

MDPI is grateful for all the attendees, speakers, and organizers involved in these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.

In order to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week 2024, MDPI is launching a special webinar to encourage researchers to come together, take action, and highlight how the exchange of findings facilitates efforts to raise awareness on breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding plays a crucial role in the early development of infants, providing essential nutrients and antibodies that bolster the immune system and promote healthy growth. It fosters a strong bond between mother and child while reducing the risk of infections, allergies, and chronic conditions. Moreover, breastfeeding supports cognitive development and contributes to long-term health benefits, including lower risks of obesity and diabetes. For mothers, it aids post-partum recovery and reduces the risk of certain cancers. Promoting breastfeeding is vital for public health, ensuring the well-being of both infants and mothers and fostering a healthier future generation.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you at the MDPI World Breastfeeding Week Webinar 2024.

Date: 07 August 2024 at 03.00 p.m. CEST | 9:00 a.m. EDT | 9:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 839 4244 6710
Webinar Announcement: https://sciforum.net/event/MWBWW2

Register now for free!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will inform you when the recording is available.

Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Shela Hirani, University of Regina, Faculty of Nursing, Regina, Canada;
• Dr. Sylvia H. Ley, Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.;
• Dr. Natalie Shenker, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, England; Human Milk Foundation, Gossoms End Health Centre, Hertfordshire, England.

Relevant Special Issues:
“Health Promotion and Interventions for Marginalized Mothers and Children”
Guest Editor: Dr. Shela Hirani
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025

“Anxiety and Depressive Disorders among Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women”
Guest Editor: Dr. Georgios Eleftheriou
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024

“Association between Breast Milk Composition and Neonates Growth”
Guest Editor: Dr. Maria Elisabetta Baldassarre
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024

“Breastmilk for Healthy Development”
Guest Editors: Dr. Monika Zielińska-Pukos and Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Hamułka
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2024

“What’s New in Breastfeeding?”
Guest Editor: Dr. Patricia Markham Risica
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2024

“Breast Cancer: New Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches”
Guest Editors: Dr. Erika Bandini, Dr. Tania Rossi and Dr. Sara Bravaccini
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025

“Molecular and Pharmacological Basis of Breast Cancer Resistance to Therapies”
Guest Editors: Dr. Stefania Crucitta and Dr. Rossana Roncato
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024

“Women’s Special Issue Series: Biomedicines (2nd Edition)”
Guest Editors: Dr. Letizia Polito, Dr. Federica Falà and Dr. Riuko Ohashi
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024

“Impacts of Newborn Breast Milk Feeding”
Guest Editors: Dr. Ivan Hand and Dr. Lawrence M. Noble
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2025

“Infant Feeding: Advances and Future Challenges: 2nd Edition”
Guest Editors: Dr. Evangelia Antoniou, Dr. Maria K. Tzitiridou-Chatzopoulou and Dr. Eirini Orovou
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024

“Promoting Breastfeeding and Human Milk in Infants”
Guest Editors: Dr. Pasqua Anna Quitadamo and Prof. Dr. Luigi Corvaglia
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2025

“2nd Edition: Pregnancy and Perinatal Health”
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Claude Billeaud and Dr. Virginie Rigourd
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024

“Nutritional Management of Newborn Infants”
Guest Editor: Dr. Maria Skouroliakou
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 November 2024

“Pregnancy, Childbirth, Puerperium, Breastfeeding and Sexuality in the World of Rare Diseases”
Guest Editors: Dr. Juan Carlos Sánchez-García, Dr. Raquel Rodríguez-Blanque and Dr. Jonathan Cortés Martín
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024

MDPI will attend the ESC Congress 2024, held in London, UK, from 30 August to 2 September 2024, at booth #G 160. We invite researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The Spotlight of the ESC Congress 2024 will be “Personalising Cardiovascular Care”, a topic devoted to empowering patients through tailored treatments to improve outcomes, reduce risk, and redefine the standard of care.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Medicina;
• JCM;
• Healthcare;
• IJTM;
• Diseases;
• IJERPH;
• Genes;
• Clinics and Practice;
• Medicines;
• EJIHPE;
• Cardiogenetics.

If you are participating in this conference, please feel free to contact us online prior to attendance. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person at booth #G 160 and answering any questions you may have. For more information regarding the conference, please visit the following link: https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-Events/ESC-Congress.

Throughout the second quarter of 2024, research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN: 1660-4601) was featured over 485 times in news articles published by reputable media sources, such as BBC News, Forbes, TIME Magazine, and National Geographic.

Learn more about this research below.

“If you find yourself waking up multiple times a night, consider moving your dinnertime earlier”, says Dr. Vishesh Kapur, a professor and director of sleep medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. If you eat a very large meal too late at night, the digestion process could wake you up. Spicy foods, acidic foods, and fatty foods are particularly troublesome.”
TIME Magazine—“How to Get Back to Sleep After Waking Up at Night”
IJERPH—“Does the Proximity of Meals to Bedtime Influence the Sleep of Young Adults? A Cross-Sectional Survey of University Students”
Article link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2677

“The benefits of digital substance use programs are significant and have been demonstrated in multiple peer-reviewed clinical research, with outcomes meeting or exceeding those of traditional, in-person therapy. These benefits include increased access to care, convenience, flexible scheduling, a greater sense of privacy and reduced stigma.”
Forbes—“Why There’s An Urgent Need To ‘Modernize’ Substance Use Treatment”
IJERPH—“Digital Help for Substance Users (SU): A Systematic Review”
Article link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11309

“Running's mental health plusses are no less intriguing. "Running can be done on your own, but often has a social component as well, whether it's running with a friend or being part of a running club or virtual community," says Karmel Choi, a clinical psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School." This adds to the emotional benefits by reducing isolation and increasing a sense of support and motivation.”
National Geographic—“Why the world's oldest sport is still one of the best exercises”
IJERPH—“A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health”
Article link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8059

“Exercise and “cognitive training” can improve life for adults with Down's syndrome, research has suggested. Two Anglia Ruskin University academics based in Cambridge led a study involving more than 80 people. A university spokesman said the "Mindsets" study, external, led by Dr Dan Gordon and Viviane Merzbach and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, was the first of its kind.”
BBC News—“Cambridge study says exercise lifts adults with Down's syndrome”
IJERPH—“The Effects of Prescribed Physical and Cognitive Exercise on Life Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy and Mood States in Adults with Down Syndrome: The MinDSets Study”
Article link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/610

“For example, in February, researchers at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health published a study which suggests that city dwellers who have more exposure to urban green spaces require fewer mental health services.”
Forbes—“Why Trees And Green Spaces Are Good For Our Health And Wellbeing”
IJERPH—“Nature and Mental Health in Urban Texas: A Nature Score-Based Study”
Article link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/2/168

We are pleased to announce that the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH, ISSN: 1660-4601) ranked first in the latest Google Scholar Metrics in the subcategory Public Health. The h5-index of IJERPH is 229 and the h5-median is 328.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all the editors, reviewers, authors, and readers of IJERPH. Thank you for all your support. Please feel free to contact us at ijerph@mdpi.com if you have any questions or suggestions for IJERPH.

For more information about our ranking on Google Scholar, please visit the following website: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en&vq=med_publichealth.

IJERPH Editorial Office