Dear Colleague:

This issue marks the beginning of a new era for Growth, Genetics & Hormones (GGH ); Dr. Robert M. Blizzard retired and I became the Editor-in-Chief. This opportunity is an honor and the task is a major challenge, as it will be hard to fill the shoes of my mentor. In this issue you will find some modifications in the format and appearance of the journal and some changes to the editorial board. Hopefully, you will also note and appreciate the continuous high quality of the publication, papers reviewed and editorial comments. The featured article on Ghrelin and the abstracts along with editorial comments are very pertinent and timely, all together we are very pleased with this issue.

Dr. Judith G. Hall who had been with this journal since its inception has retired from GGH and will be sorely missed. I bid her farewell and thank her for all of her many contributions. On the other hand, I welcome Adda Grimberg, MD and David E. Sandberg, PhD whose abbreviated biographical sketches are posted on our web site (www.GGHjournal.com). Two years ago we launched GGH on the internet and this has allowed us to reach a larger group of colleagues worldwide. Thus, I want to welcome a new group of international consulting editors who will help us project the journal internationally: Yoshikazu Nishi, MD in Japan, Raphael Rappaport, MD in France, and Alfonso Vargas, MD representing Latin America .

The last issue of 2003 included a survey which helped us renew our subscribers list and profile the readership. Over 60% of readers are pediatric endocrinologists and 15% are geneticists. A majority of our readers (78%) reside in the USA . Over two-thirds of the subscribers access the journal via the internet, usually after they are notified via e-mail announcing the publication of a new issue. Sixty percent view the journal and download it to keep it as a reference. I thank everyone who responded to the survey and for the wonderful comments received; 81% gave GGH a very high/high ranking . The details of the survey are posted at www.GGHjournal.com.

This sets the challenge for the future - to reach more colleagues, to continue to improve the journal and to bring to our readers the most current reviews updated information and advances in the field along with erudite editorial comments. Only through the internet with the on-line version of GGH can this be accomplished; within the budgetary constraints, a printed publication would not allow us to meet these goals. Thus we will continue to limit the printed subscriptions and phase out the printed journal by the end of 2004 while we further expand the readership through the internet.

Finally, I want to express my deep appreciation to our sponsors for the generous unrestricted, no strings attached grant for the publication of GGH . Please be sure you tell them how much you appreciate GGH . We also request that you keep us up-to-date with your current e-mail address so you continue to receive GGH. I thank you in advance for your consideration and comments (editor@GGHjournal.com).

Fima Lifshitz , MD

Editor-in-Chief