Editorial

Acta Dermato-Venereologica (Acta DV) will be celebrating a centennial anniversary in 2020 (more on this later!). We are moving forward in the new era of publishing; Acta DV aims to be one of the leading journals within Dermatology and Venereology, spanning from basic, translational research, to clinical studies. The journal has a rapid acceptance and rejection rate and is online with immediate access. Recent developments include an internal database for improved selection of referees, inclusion of a significance summary (lay abstract), and new front page, website, and article layouts. On the manuscript handling side, we have implemented checklists for submission, and an automatic size check is underway for our Short Communications. Four new Deputy Editors have strengthened our capacity to evaluate and handle manuscripts. Acta DV depends very much on the work and expert input of our Section Editors (SEs), all specialized in different fields of dermatology and sexually transmitted diseases. In order to expand and strengthen specific areas I am therefore happy to welcome two new highly competent scientists as SEs; Drs Matthias Schmuth, MD, and Jürgen Harder, PhD.

Dr Matthias Schmuth is Professor and Chair of Dermatology and Venereology at Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. He received his basic training in medicine at the University of Vienna, gaining a Medical License in 1996, and Board Certification in Dermatology in 2002. He worked as a Research Scientist, New York University in 2002–2003, followed by Associate Professor, University of Innsbruck in 2003–2006, and Adjunct Professor, University of California San Francisco in 2006–2008. In 2009 he was appointed Full Professor at the Medical University Innsbruck. Dr Schmuth’s special research interests are in the molecular biology of epidermal differentiation, and disorders of cornification. He has extensively studied nuclear hormone receptors in cutaneous homeostasis and inflammation and is the recipient of the Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship of the Austrian Science Fund. He is president of the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (?GDV) and past president of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR).

Dr Jürgen Harder is Professor of Epithelial Infection Biology, University of Kiel, Department of Dermatology. He gained his PhD in Microbiology at the University of Kiel in 2000, followed by a position as Research Associate in the research group at the Department of Dermatology, University of Kiel. After Habilitation in Molecular Medicine, University of Kiel, he was appointed Privatdozent (Assistant Professor) in 2005–2007, a Heisenberg-Fellow of the German Research Foundation in 2007–2009, and worked as a Visiting Scientist in the laboratory of Professor Gabriel Nunez, Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA in 2007–2008. Since 2009 he has held a Heisenberg-Professorship (“Epithelial Infection Biology”), at the University of Kiel.