Tobacco Induced Diseases moves to BioMed Central

Alongside this article, the first articles accepted by Tobacco Induced Diseases are published on BioMed Central's open access publishing platform. Until now, the journal has been hosted at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. The journal and its host society, the International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases (ISPTID), have an interesting history [1]. Originally founded as a forum for exchange of information concerning a common interest in the prevention of disease induced by cigarette smoking, this society has transformed into an internationally recognized group of experts on international anti-smoking law implementation and enforcement efforts. In addition, we are now mounting an effort to extend our publication efforts into the areas of basic biological effects of tobacco smoke constituents. As a scientist who primarily undertakes research in this latter category, I find myself at the society meetings in a somewhat foreign environment. In the presence of policy and epidemiological experts and analysts, a basic biomedical scientist hears about duplicitous dealings of tobacco companies, shifts in cigarette use demographics, and, most importantly, real impacts, including fatal impacts, of smoking on populations and individuals. For a molecular researcher this is indeed new territory and has become an interesting experience, a foray out of the laboratory and maybe a chance to find the much sought-after relevance for all the work of students, technicians and collaborators. Indeed, the ISPTID has provided a growing international platform to explore many aspects of disease induced by tobacco smoke. For this reason, as well as to stress the emphasis on molecular research in the medical literature, we have expanded our editorial research board to include Xing Li Wang who brings scientific credibility in the area of vascular genetics, cell and molecular biology. Dr. Wang is Professor of Surgery in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Division of the