Happy New Year. I am excited to begin my tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention (JCRP) with this issue of the journal. JCRP, which is entering its 39th year, has a solid foundation due in large part to those who preceded me as Editor-in-Chief. All of us, who benefit from JCRP being an excellent resource, owe a debt of gratitude to Mike Pollock, Vic Froelicher, Barry Franklin, Kathy Berra, Gary Balady, Phil Ades, Mark Williams, and Larry Hamm. I am humbled by the opportunity to follow in their footsteps and to serve in this capacity.
I especially want to thank Larry Hamm for his leadership of JCRP over the past 5 years. I served as an Associate Editor for Larry and benefited from his guidance during his term as Editor-in-Chief. I am particularly thankful for his mentorship this past year in training for this position. During Larry's term, his many contributions include: managing a steadily increasing number of submissions to JCRP, introducing a new cover for the journal, leading the effort to provide electronic only publications (ePub) to increase the number of papers published each year, and creating a new position of Associate Editor-in-Chief to strengthen the editorial oversight of the journal. Larry is a Master Fellow of AACVPR, a recognition he well deserves due to the many leadership roles he has held, including serving as President. I know I have a lot of company in saying thank you to Larry for all of his contributions to our profession!
My job will be made easier by having a great editorial team that includes: Michael Berry, Bonnie Sanderson, Patrick Savage, Ray Squires, and Jim Stone as Associate Editors; Pete Brubaker and Sanjay Kalra as Literature Update Editors; Kate Maude as Managing Editor; Kevin Brosky as Production Editor; Senior Publisher Andrea Allison-Williams for the journal at Wolters Kluwer Health; and a strong Editorial Board. As a group, we are committed to providing excellent service to the authors who contribute their work to JCRP and to our readership.
In this first issue for Volume 39 you will find articles related to: guidelines in both cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, utilization of cardiac rehabilitation services, evaluation of different training approaches for patients in both cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and much more. I believe these articles can provide valuable information that you can apply to your work, both clinical and research, and I encourage you to share the information with your colleagues and collaborators.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2019 and much success in your work in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention.
Lenny Kaminsky, PhD, FAACVPR, FACSM, FAHA
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention