Journal of Alzheimer's Disease's Outreach Initiatives Aim to Amplify Underrepresented Voices from Africa and South America

The majority of JAD’s 2024 Editorial Board members are located in North America (37.6%), Europe (26.1%), and Asia (26.2%). Only 0.6% of the Editorial Board is from an African nation, while 2.0% is located in South America. JAD has taken positive steps to increase representation from these regions both within its Editorial Board and contributing author base.

Regional Editors of JAD play an important role in advancing this initiative. They assist Editor-in-Chief George Perry, PhD (University of Texas at San Antonio, USA), and Co-Editor-in-Chief Paula Moreira, PhD (University of Coimbra, Portugal), to evaluate the scientific rigor of articles from their regions as well as solicit new submissions to the journal. Regional Editors also help identify studies that focus on regional issues, e.g., longitudinal, cultural, genetics, etc., related to Alzheimer's disease.
 

AFRICA
JAD welcomes two new Regional Editors for Africa

Christine Musyimi, PhD, a Research Scientist at the Africa Institute of Mental and Brain Health (AFRIMEB) in Kenya and Collaborating Faculty Member at the Columbia-WHO Center for Global Mental Health, Columbia University, New York, was appointed as the first Regional Editor for Africa in July 2024. Dr. Musyimi’s research focuses on promoting excellence in community-based mental health research, and she develops innovative strategies with special attention to older person’s and women’s health, particularly improving dementia care and maternal and child mental health in Kenya.

Jean Ikanga, PhD, MPH, assumed the position of Regional Editor for Africa in August 2024. He is an instructor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa and Catholic University of Congo. He is the first neuropsychologist from the Democratic Republic of Congo. His research focuses on cognitive and fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in Sub-Saharan Africa, predominantly in French speaking countries.

From 2020 to 2022, research from African scholars only represented 0.3% of all published articles in JAD. More recently, JAD is publishing work from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tunisia, with additional outreach to researchers in Benin, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda to submit their work. Many contributions from Africa are eligible to receive an Article Processing Charge (APC) waiver.

Dr. Perry, explains, "We launched the African initiative to gain representation from this critical region. Africa is the origin of humankind and can offer novel insights into scientific and social solutions for Alzheimer's disease. JAD's efforts are directed to promoting African scientists and Africa-specific issues regarding Alzheimer's disease."

SOUTH AMERICA
JAD recognizes the ongoing efforts of its Regional Editors in South America

Thanks to JAD's previous APC waiver program for papers with a South American corresponding author, more submissions have been coming in from Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Authorship from the continent has increased to 2.8% (2020-2022).

The rise in articles from South American researchers is driven by the efforts of the Regional Editors who are helping to solicit high quality research papers from this region. JAD would like to recognize:

Gloria Patricia Cardona-Gomez, PhD, University of Antioquia, Colombia, is a full professor and senior researcher at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UdeA) and coordinator of the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology area in the Neuroscience Group of Antioquia (GNA, UdeA).

Sergio Ferreira, PhD, is Professor of Biochemistry and Professor of Biophysics and Neuroscience at the Institute of Biophysics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ricardo Maccioni, PhD, is Professor of Neurology and Professor of Neurosciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Sciences of the University of Chile. He also serves as Director of the Laboratory of Neurosciences and Functional Medicine and Scientific Director of the International Center for Biomedicine (ICC), Santiago, Chile.
 

"We can and must do more to enhance the position of underrepresented researchers," Dr. Perry emphasizes. "With the appointment of Dr. Musyimi and Dr. Ikanga as Regional Editors for Africa, the efforts of our South American Regional Editors, and through our APC-waver programs, we are confident that we can amplify the contributions of African and South American scholars in our community."

[Article Processing Charges (APCs) may be waived under certain circumstances, particularly for authors from low-income countries as defined by Research4Life.]

For more information:
Beth Kumar
Managing Editor
editorial@j-alz.com