Associate Professor Joshua J. Neumiller is completing his first year as editor-in-chief of Diabetes Spectrum, one of four professional journals published by the American Diabetes Association.
Neumiller is a certified diabetes educator and co-leader of the Clinical Trials Research Team in the College which focuses primarily on diabetes-related clinical trials.
Q. Now that you have been the Diabetes Spectrum editor-in-chief for almost a year, what is different about this role compared to your previous three years as an associate editor?
A. Acting as Editor has allowed me to expand my role and work with the rest of the Editorial Board to drive the content of the journal. It has been a very rewarding experience thus far and has allowed me to interact with a variety of experts involved in the care of people with diabetes. The great part about Diabetes Spectrum is that it is a multidisciplinary journal and allows us to cover topics from a variety of perspectives. I might note there are two other WSU alumni now serving on the editorial team – Travis Sonnett and Lindy Swain. The three of us have worked on many projects together over the years.
Q. How does Diabetes Spectrum differ from the other ADA professional journals?
A. Diabetes Spectrum is committed to assisting health care professionals in developing strategies to individualize treatment, enhance diabetes self-management education and optimize patient outcomes. The niche that Diabetes Spectrum fills provides key actionable information to prescribers, pharmacists, nurses, and dietitians. Diabetes Spectrum is unique in that we often cover a special topic and invite a series of experts to write about various aspects of the topic – we call this our “From Research to Practice” section. Earlier this year retired WSU Professor R. Keith Campbell served as guest editor for an issue titled: “Pharmacotherapy of Diabetes: Past, Present, and Future” which flew off the shelves at the most recent American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting.
read Campbell’s article: http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/2/79.full.pdf
Q. What do you feel is the most important aspect of your work–in the short term and further down the road?
A. I have a strong personal interest in diabetes because I have Type 1 diabetes. Working with and educating people with diabetes is a passion of mine. My research and clinical duties allow me to interact with people and do what I can to help them understand their disease and take better control of their health. My role as Editor of Diabetes Spectrum allows me to meet this goal in a different way – by working with the ADA and my Editorial Team colleagues to deliver timely education to diabetes educators and other health care providers across the country and beyond (Diabetes Spectrum has an international readership).
Q. Have there been any big developments in diabetes treatment this past year?
A. For pharmacists there have been a number of developments over the last several years. Of note, a new inhaled insulin product was approved this year. Several other new medications are on the market as well. I was fortunate enough to participate in a conference recently regarding the management of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), which resulted in a grant to fund projects advancing the knowledge about DKD. I am quite excited to see the results of this research effort. Not many clinical studies to date have included these patients.
[December 1, 2014] by: Lorraine Nelson, WSU Health Sciences Spokane