ATS Members Join Editorial Team of Iranian Journal

ATS members Peter Barnes and Irfan Rahman have joined the editorial board of Tanaffos, a peer-reviewed journal published by the National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NRITLD) at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services in Tehran, Iran. Tanaffos, which means “respiration” in Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish, Urdu and Turkish, publishes original papers, selected review articles, case reports and other articles of special interest related to respiratory disease. All papers are published in English. The journal’s editor is Mohammad Reza Masjedi, MD.

In October 2011, ATS President Nick Hill attended the 5th Semi-Annual International Congress on Pulmonary Diseases, Intensive Care and Tuberculosis in Tehran, Iran (see story), where he signed a memorandum of understanding between the ATS and the NRITLD aimed at increasing scientific collaboration between the two organizations.

Original research topics covered in Tanaffos, which publishes papers from around the world, have included lung cell biology, immunology, pathology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, thoracic imaging, pediatric pulmonology, sleep medicine, oncology, occupational medicine, intensive care, thoracic surgery, and tuberculosis. The journal, which is published quarterly, will produce a special supplement in December 2012 focusing on respiratory health in the developing world.

“The Tanaffos journal takes its role as an advocate for better respiratory publications nationally and internationally very seriously,” said Esmaeil Mortaz, PhD, assistant to the editor-in-chief of the journal. “In Iran and many developing countries, TB is still a serious and important health issue and the exact data on prevalence of asthma and COPD, lung cancer and many other major respiratory problems are lacking."