Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your career path? 

I am Chief Editor of Nature Health, a new peer-reviewed journal of public, global and population health from the Nature Portfolio. 

I have had a very varied career, starting off in the lab, where I conducted research into influenza virus for my PhD and then a postdoc on smallpox vaccines. After 8 years I fancied a change and moved into publishing, first at BMC where I was an Acquisitions Editor launching new peer-reviewed journals (I think I launched about a dozen, including some such as Microbiome, that are still going strong!) and was then promoted to Associate Publisher with a team of Acquisition Editors in London, New York, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. That was a really fun job with a lot of travel, all very exciting after working in the lab. 

After 5 years at BMC I moved to the Nature Portfolio (although the two companies had just merged to form Springer Nature) to launch a series of online communities as Head of Communities & Engagement. It is one of those online communities that you are reading now! I also launched Nature Portfolio’s Instagram account, in part to promote the lovely images that researchers shared on these communities. I found that job really rewarding and varied, but like a lot of people, my life was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021 I was asked to volunteer at Nature Medicine to help handle some papers relating to the outbreak. After 3 months doing that, they offered me a full-time job, and it was an “offer I couldn’t refuse” !  

I was at Nature Medicine for 4 years, where I was responsible for news and opinion content, which meant editing short opinion pieces from scientists, doctors and the occasional patient advocate, but also editing news, which meant I trained as a journalist in my early 40s – not something I ever expected to do. I had written a lot of blogs and social media posts, but being edited by a professional news editor was a whole new experience…! But this training allowed me to write more and more (as well as editing news written by others) and I started writing journalism for Nature Biotechnology as a freelancer in my spare time, which I really enjoyed. 

Then last year I noticed a new journal, Nature Health, which was looking for a Chief Editor. I never imagined being a Chief Editor, but found this an irresistible opportunity, given that my main interest has always been public health. So, I applied and got the job! 

What is your current role and what does it involve? 

As Chief Editor I manage a small team of 2 editors, with a third joining in January, when we launch. As well as managing the team who handle all the peer review, I am responsible for making sure that all the content in the journal is ready on time. We launch in January 2026, so our launch issue has to be ready by the end of November – just 2 months away! 

I lead team discussions each week on what papers to accept and what to send out for review. We decide on the threshold for this new journal and what types of health research are in and out of scope. I also encourage the team to suggest topics for reviews and opinion content. 

I am also handling a lot of papers at the moment, while we recruit an environmental health editor, so I am learning a lot about the health effects of climate, pollution, heat and microplastics – to name a few! 

I travel quite a bit, raising awareness for the journal and this year have been to China, India, USA and Rwanda as well as to various European countries, usually for conferences but also for institute visits.  

What advice would you give to someone at the start of their career?  

Always find time for the things you enjoy, even if they are not a core part of your role. Part of the reason that I could move from being an Associate Publisher at BMC to being Head of Communities & Engagement at Springer Nature is because I loved writing blogs and running social media accounts (in the more innocent days of social media, around 15 years ago…). This was not a core part of my job at BMC, but because I had that experience it got me a full-time job, which I really loved, despite not having ever been a community manager. 

Similarly, during the pandemic I made the time to write blogs about the COVID-19 pandemic, which was definitely not a core part of my job managing communities, but I enjoyed it and thought I had something to add. This led to my job at Nature Medicine editing news and opinion. 

What challenges have you faced in your career so far? How have you dealt with them?             

I have had to retrain many times, including learning how to manage online communities in my 30s and learning how to write journalism in my 40s! This has presented huge challenges, including imposter syndrome. But this forced me to keep learning and develop my knowledge and skills, which I think is important. I have also benefited hugely from mentors within the company who I could ask stupid questions to, as well as online training courses (many of which are free!) Don’t be scared of trying something new, but make sure you do your homework – it will be worth it!