Editorial Leadership Change for Critical Care Explorations

Critical Care Explorations was first published in January 2019 as the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) first open-access, online-only journal. The journal was born out of SCCM’s desire to enable rapid communication of innovative ideas. The journal solicits diverse article types―including pilot studies, early observations, technological advances, quality innovations, and therapeutic strategies―collectively focusing on novel observations that may immediately influence new thinking, new studies, and new practice.

Dr. Buchman was appointed as Critical Care Exploration’s founding editor-in-chief. In his inaugural foreword, Exploring the Endless Frontier, Dr. Buchman remarked on the need for a new balance between speed of dissemination and “high standards for integrity and peer review.” He remarked that “there is a different balance to be struck between alacrity and certainty, between insight and vision, between accounts and guidance.” A year later, the COVID-19 public health emergency emerged; the journal responded with a rapid increase in urgent communications and was the first critical care journal to call attention to the risks of misinformation in the care of COVID-19 patients and the importance of planned research to combat the pandemic, both published the month after cases were first identified in the United States.

Critical Care Explorations has now established its reputation as a sought-after member of SCCM’s family of peer-reviewed journals, joining Critical Care Medicine and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine; for the past two years, Critical Care Explorations has published more original research articles than either of the other two journals.

Dr. Buchman, a past SCCM president, has a distinguished career in critical care medicine that spans four decades. As the founding director of the Emory Critical Care Center in Atlanta, Georgia, he has led groundbreaking research in areas such as physiologic dynamics, patient monitoring, sepsis genetics, and ICU end-of-life care. A general surgeon, intensive care physician and virologist, he is currently IPA senior advisor to the Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Office of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Both his Emory and federal roles now require more of his time, which is why he is beginning the transition of editorial leadership. Reflecting on his tenure as editor-in-chief, Dr. Buchman expressed wonder at the new journal’s success and gratitude for the opportunity to serve the critical care community.

“It has been a privilege to contribute to the advance of critical care medicine in this role,” he said. “I extend my thanks to the many associate editors, social media editors, reviewers, authors, and others with whom I have served. Critical Care Explorations now must continue to drive innovation at this endless frontier.”

This announcement follows news earlier this year that SCCM named Jonathan E. Sevransky, MD, MHS, FCCM, as the new editor-in-chief of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Sevransky will succeed Dr. Buchman, who has served as editor-in-chief of Critical Care Medicine since 2014.