Fiona Godlee
Encyclopedia
Fiona Godlee has been editor in chief
of the BMJ
since 2005; she is the first female editor appointed in the journal's history.
, then trained as a general physician in London, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
. Since 1990 she has written on a broad range of issues for BMJ, including the impact of environmental degradation on health, the future of the World Health Organisation, the ethics of academic publication, and the problems of editorial peer review.
In 1994, she spent a year at Harvard University
as a Harkness Fellow evaluating efforts to bridge the gap between medical research and practice. On returning to the UK, she led the development of BMJ Clinical Evidence, which evaluates the best available evidence on the benefits and harms of treatments and is now provided worldwide to over a million clinicians in 9 languages. In 2000, she moved to Current Science Group to help establish the open access online publisher BioMedCentral as Editorial Director for Medicine. In 2003, she returned to the BMJ Group to head up its new Knowledge division. She has served as President of the World Association of Medical Editors (from January 2000 to December 2001) and Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (from 2004 on) and is co-editor of Peer Review in Health Sciences.
with her husband and two children. Her paternal grandmother was born Barbara Lodge, youngest of the six daughters of the physicist Sir Oliver Lodge. On her paternal grandfather's side, she is a great great great grand daughter of Joseph Jackson Lister
, pioneer of the compound microscope and father of Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
.
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of the BMJ
BMJ
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
since 2005; she is the first female editor appointed in the journal's history.
Career
Educated at Bedales, she qualified as a doctor in 1985 at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, having studied at Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, then trained as a general physician in London, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
. Since 1990 she has written on a broad range of issues for BMJ, including the impact of environmental degradation on health, the future of the World Health Organisation, the ethics of academic publication, and the problems of editorial peer review.
In 1994, she spent a year at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as a Harkness Fellow evaluating efforts to bridge the gap between medical research and practice. On returning to the UK, she led the development of BMJ Clinical Evidence, which evaluates the best available evidence on the benefits and harms of treatments and is now provided worldwide to over a million clinicians in 9 languages. In 2000, she moved to Current Science Group to help establish the open access online publisher BioMedCentral as Editorial Director for Medicine. In 2003, she returned to the BMJ Group to head up its new Knowledge division. She has served as President of the World Association of Medical Editors (from January 2000 to December 2001) and Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (from 2004 on) and is co-editor of Peer Review in Health Sciences.
Personal life
She lives in CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
with her husband and two children. Her paternal grandmother was born Barbara Lodge, youngest of the six daughters of the physicist Sir Oliver Lodge. On her paternal grandfather's side, she is a great great great grand daughter of Joseph Jackson Lister
Joseph Jackson Lister
Joseph Jackson Lister, FRS was an amateur British opticist and physicist and the father of Joseph Lister.-Ancestry:...
, pioneer of the compound microscope and father of Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
.
External links
- BMJ.com
- BMJ 'appoints its first woman editor', Fiona Godlee, British Medical JournalBritish Medical JournalBMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
(February 12, 2005) - World Association of Medical Editors