This editor profile is the tenth in a series which will introduce you to a selection of our editors.
This week we have an interview with Edward McCabe, Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Genetics and Metabolism

What aspect of being an editor do you find most rewarding?
Just being able to contribute to the field and trying to improve it through our review process, particularly in genetics and metabolism. We’ve helped turn the field away from a belief in genetic determinism. It’s important to acknowledge and study the intricate relationship of our genes with our environment. In terms of getting the journal out to publication and online, we’re fast and we try to provide services to the authors.  For example, if a paper has been reviewed by the New England Journal of Medicine or Science and doesn’t get published, we encourage authors to send the reviews and their response to those criticisms.

Can you describe how it feels when you come across a groundbreaking paper?
To have a groundbreaking paper, or a mini-review that takes a new approach to the field, is amazing. If you know your field well, I think that you know when somebody has one of those eureka moments.

What advice would you give to a new editor?
If they’re doing it because they think it’s honorific, then they should do something else.  It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s extremely rewarding. One thing that slows down the process is when an editor is constantly sending revised manuscripts back to the reviewers.  The editor has to make a decision and move on. We reject on the basis of priority as well as quality. If we believe that research contributes to improved care, then we shouldn’t be wasting pages. Also, the journal can be all-consuming, but it’s important for an editor to put aside space in their schedule to think and be creative.

How do you balance your role as editor with your other roles?
I’m the chief of the Mattel Children’s Hospital, professor at the UCLA Department of Pediatrics and I have the journal. I stay involved because the rewards are great and to have the opportunity to help shape my discipline is incredibly satisfying.  I’m fortunate to have a very involved Managing Editor. The first thing that Linda the Managing Editor, and also my wife, does in the morning is check to see what has come in. I think it’s very important to have strong staff to stay on top of the process. I can look at the paper and the reviewers’ comments and I can easily make decisions.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I’m the first kid to go to college in my family.  At some point I realized that I wanted to be involved in medicine and medical research.  Before that I wanted to be a forest ranger. I took part in the math and science enhancement programs developed in response to Sputnik; I went to the Pediatric Research Laboratory at the University of Maryland and I stayed with that laboratory throughout high school, college and my PhD.

Why did you choose biochemistry as your field of study?
I wanted to try to understand human health in this way.  I started out in biochemical genetics and then became more broadly interested in genetics.  I got interested in pediatrics, when I fell in love with the kids during my first clinical rotation in medical school.

Tell me about collaboration.  What is the secret to success?
It’s learning to speak new languages.  When you cross through disciplinary boundaries, you frequently discover that people in that new discipline speak a different language.  I enjoy the challenge.

What is the biggest lesson you've learned in your career?
A key to success is mentoring. Dr. Samuel Bessman was an outstanding mentor to Linda and me. I remember saying to him, “You gave me my life in medicine, what can I do to repay you?” His reply was: “Mentor the next generation, the way I mentored you.”

What is your biggest achievement?
The people that we’ve trained.  We’ve had wonderful students, we’ve mentored and continue to mentor junior, and not so junior faculty. 

What is your favorite quote?
The quote from Sam, because it set a pattern for our lives. 

What are you currently reading?  Would you recommend it?  If so, why?
I’m reading a book, called Maps and Spirits, on the anthropology of a tribal group of Athabaskan speakers in northwestern Canada. I got it because we’re doing research on severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and it’s more common in Athabaskan tribal groups.  I got it as a reference for the maps, but the text alternates between the history and anthropology of the people and I’m finding it really fascinating.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Sam, I don’t know what I’d be doing without him. He took a real interest in the people he was mentoring.  There wasn’t anything superficial and he was always helping with our work.  

What would you like your legacy to be?
Again, the people. I have a chart on my wall that traces my academic family tree. I enjoy meeting the trainees of my trainees. We have lab dinners at national professional meetings and we often have three generations there.

What is something about yourself you would like other people to know?
Linda and I have a ranch in Colorado.  We breed reining horses there. You can go to our website   www.doublestrandranch.com. 

What do you like to do for fun?
To relax, I go up to the ranch. We use that as our retreat, where it’s easier to find time to write.  I can get away from some of the everyday decisions and problems of running a children’s hospital. I need a place, a setting where I can think creatively and protect the opportunity to continue contributing to the field.