Q&A with our new Editor-in-Chief

Get to know our founding Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Magdalene Montgomery, as she shares her thoughts about her research experience and becoming involved with the journal.

 

 

 

What is your research background?

I studied Biology at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany, before starting a PhD in animal physiology at the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 2008. During my PhD, which was focussed on understanding mitochondrial function and oxidative stress in birds (a variety of parrot and fowl species), I gained interest in mitochondrial biology and metabolism. Following my PhD studies, I was offered a position at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, where I used my expertise in mitochondrial metabolism to gain novel insights into the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, with a focus on dysfunctional lipid and glucose metabolism. I deepened my interest in metabolic disease and lipid metabolism during postdoctoral positions at UNSW Sydney and Monash University in Melbourne, and have since established my own research group in the School of Biomedical Science at the University of Melbourne in 2018.

What is your current research focused on?

My current research program focuses on understanding changes in lipid and glucose metabolism during the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) towards more advanced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Specifically, we aim to uncover novel regulators of lipid metabolism in the liver that can be targeted therapeutically for NASH, fibrosis and HCC. Our work centres around CRISPR/Cas9-based screens, coupled to target validation in cell and murine models of advanced liver disease using innovative protein and gene therapy approaches. We have a multidisciplinary team, regularly interact with clinician collaborators, and perform target validation in clinical samples to increase therapeutic relevance of our findings.

What is your favourite thing about research?

I absolutely love thinking outside the box. I love discovery research, starting off from a simple observation to diving into the molecular mechanisms – there is always a new challenge just around the corner! It is fabulous to work with like-minded people, to share ideas and to come up with solutions.

What is the best advice you can give to early career researchers?

Firstly, never give up! I can still remember my first years post-PhD and the first attempts to obtain fellowships and research funding – so many rejections! But then the one success that makes you forget all such rejections; it is worth being persistent. Secondly, make sure you have a good mentor. I was extremely privileged to have worked with outstanding mentors throughout my postdoctoral years who have taught me how to be persistent, how to cope with failures, but most importantly how to succeed in this tough academic environment. And lastly, make sure you don’t burn out and you leave sufficient time for friends, family and personal interests.

What are you most looking forward to in your role as Editor-in-Chief?

I am mostly looking forward to reading exciting and diverse science in the metabolism field. I am looking forward to learning about new innovative ideas, model systems and technologies. While my work primarily centres around NAFLD and type 2 diabetes, the current obesity and metabolic disease crisis brings so much more to the table, and I am excited to read about novel ideas and therapeutic strategies in obesity, immune and cancer metabolism, and cardiovascular disease (among so many other things).

Why should researchers submit their work to npj Metabolic Health and Disease?

My goal as Editor in Chief is to make npj Metabolic Health and Disease a platform for all areas of metabolism research, ranging from fundamental discovery research all the way to translational and clinical science, making this platform highly accessible and extremely multi-disciplinary. This journal aims to get scientists to talk to each other, exchange ideas and develop collaborations. Many scientists get frustrated during manuscript submission, commonly associated with long response and review times and excessive costs. My goal is to overcome these issues, to guarantee a quick turnaround and fair assessments, and I have build a strong team of experts with a broad range of metabolism expertise to help me achieve these goals. We offer a very low publication cost and options to get costs waived. I hope many researchers will find our journal attractive, and that we can become a leading platform for the metabolism community.