Looking Forward, Looking Back

The beginning of a New Year is always a good time to take a moment to look both forward and back, to allow oneself to be both introspective and excited about what is to come. Perhaps you are someone who enjoys the challenge of resolutions, or, setting goals for the future in terms of research and medical practice. Patient groups and doctors often try to encourage their patients into good eye health resolutions – though the continued need for these efforts suggests that even here, patient compliance is still a struggle!

At The Ophthalmologist we’re also looking toward the future – you may notice some new faces as I’m delighted to be taking over from Aleksandra Jones as Editor and we also have Sarah Healey as our new Associate Editor working alongside Associate Editor Oscelle Boye. I hope you will all get to know both Oscelle and Sarah through their outstanding contributions here and through their management of The Ophthalmologist newsletter. (And if you haven’t already, why not sign up to the newsletter here).

As we bid Aleksandra a fond farewell I wanted to say that she has been a fantastic role model for me, and many other writers, steering The Ophthalmologist through forty issues and bringing much needed attention to some of the most important stories in ophthalmology from all around the world. Aleksandra is moving on to take up the editorship of our sister publication The Pathologist and I am sure that readers everywhere will want to join me in wishing her all the best and thanking her for her years of incredible work in the world of ophthalmology.

Whilst Aleksandra moves on, it is my New Year resolution to ensure that The Ophthalmologist continues to cover the most important stories, news and scientific breakthroughs that make this field so endlessly interesting, and to do so with the rigour, human interest and attention to detail that our readers expect.

On top of that we’ve some big plans for 2023, from making the Power List better than ever before, to new features and new formats with which our readers can engage.

For myself, I’m hugely excited about the year to come, and getting to know the wider ophthalmic community. So, if I can ask two things of you for this year, it would be this. First, say hello! You’ll find me on Twitter at @EyeEyeEditor and we’re always keen to hear from our readers via email if you have comments, questions, ideas, suggestions or just want to introduce yourself.

Second: if you have research news, a new breakthrough to share or even just a strong opinion on the state of the field, we are keen to publish your work, because the more voices we can bring into dialogue with our readers and the wider ophthalmology community, the better for everyone.

Wherever you are in the world and however you might be spending it, I hope you too can see an exciting and rewarding year ahead.

All the best,
Jon