PROTEOMICS - Clinical Applications

Wiley-VCH and HUPO: A Global Effort to Advance Proteomic Science

The partnership between the publishing house Wiley-VCH and HUPO has recently been affirmed at the sixth annual World HUPO Congress in Seoul Korea. There was much excitement amongst HUPO members in celebrating this agreement, which has been embraced by many HUPO partners, from both academic and industry. Indeed, this collaboration reflects the mutually beneficial efforts to mine the proteomes of humans and other species-a mammoth undertaking.

Wiley-VCH has for many years been a leader in publishing proteomic research in the European, North American and, more recently, Asian scientific communities. Asia in particular has seen a rapid growth in proteomic sciences in recent years, as evidenced by the success of the October 2007 HUPO World Congress in Seoul. This World Congress was organized by HUPO council members Professors Young-Ki Paik, Young Mok Park, and Richard Simpson. Since its inception, HUPO has been engaged in a global effort to promote proteomic sciences. Registration at the Seoul Congress represented attendees from 48 countries and 2 regions world-wide. Over the years, HUPO Presidents and other leaders within the organization have traveled globally to help foster proteomic research in different regions of the world. Asia has been a frequent destiny. HUPO and its regional affiliations sponsored or co-sponsored many events in Asia, including holding workshops/conferences at the Yonsei National Proteome Research Center in Seoul Korea, at the National Proteomic Center in Beijing China, in Singapore, in Taiwan, in Japan, in India, in Thailand, and in Hong Kong. In 2004, HUPO council members Professors Fuchu He and Xiaohong Qian triumphed the third HUPO World Congress in Beijing, China. These globally organized efforts facilitated a large commitment of resources from various Asian countries; consequently, proteomic sciences are now viewed as an important vehicle driving modern biological and medical discovery. As a result, a new generation of young Asian scientists has arisen and is being afforded the resources to pursue professional careers in proteomics.

Education and training has been one of the shared missions undertaken between HUPO and Wiley-VCH, helping to create a tradition of successful collaborations. HUPO has sponsored multiple workshops and educational programs, an effort generously supported by Wiley-VCH in many ways. The HUPO World Congress Education Day at this year's meeting, established and chaired by Professor Angelika Görg, is just one recent and prominent example of this commitment. Professor Mike Dunn, Editor-in-Chief of PROTEOMICS, delivered the opening lecture at the HUPO Education Day. The student-oriented seminar series provided insightful lectures from leading scientists along with complementary instructional handouts. In addition to the extensive supplemental aids, the intimate setting cultivated by Professor Görg and her colleagues facilitated dynamic interactions between the audience and speakers. Discussions emphasized the most current technologies used in the field with particular attention paid towards practical, bench-level trouble-shooting. Engaging students in this forum highlights the mission of HUPO and Wiley-VCH to train the future generation of proteomic scientists.

Another joint effort by Wiley-VCH and HUPO where significant progress has been made is the development of intercontinental scientific initiatives that have brought together funding agencies, academic scientists/physicians, and industrial partners to embark on large-scale proteomic projects to benefit mankind. Wiley-VCH has sponsored special publications on these large HUPO projects, including the success stories of the Human Brain Proteome Project (HBPP) led by Professors Helmut Meyer and Young Mok Park, the Human Plasma Proteome Project (HPPP) led by Professors Gilbert Omenn, Young-Ki Paik, and Ruedi Aebersold, the Human Liver Proteome Project (HLPP) led by Professors Laura Beretta, Fuchu He, and Jose Mato, and the Human Disease Glycomics Proteome Initiative (HGPI) led by Professor Naoyuki Taniguchi. In addition, the Human Antibodies Initiative (HAI) chaired by Professor Mathias Uhlen, the Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI) chaired by Henning Hermjakob, and the Cardiovascular Initiative (CVI) chaired by Professor Mike Dunn, have all benefited from the collaborative efforts between HUPO and Wiley-VCH.

An emerging area of proteomic investigation is the translation of proteomic technology to advance biology and medicine. Of particular importance is the development of new therapies based upon our knowledge of proteins and molecular markers indicative of the stage and pathogenesis of human diseases. This year's meeting in Korea hosted the second annual Clinical Day Program: an entire day of the Congress during which lectures and plenary talks were focused on the application of proteomics to human samples. This program has been well received by the scientific community as demonstrated by a significant growth in attendance and involvement of international laboratories in Seoul. An emphasis by HUPO on clinical applications of proteomic technologies again echoes one of the main focuses of Wiley-VCH in its journal of PROTEOMICS - Clinical Applications.

As we celebrate the inauguration of both PROTEOMICS and PROTEOMICS - Clinical Applications as Official Journals of HUPO, we look forward to continued success of this Wiley-VCH-HUPO partnership.


Peipei Ping     John Bergeron     Rolf Apweiler


Dr. Peipei Ping is Professor of Physiology and Medicine, Cardiology at UCLA, USA; she is the Chair of HUPO Publications Committee and Secretary General of HUPO

Dr. John Bergeron is Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University, Canada; he is the Chair of HUPO Initiatives Committee and the Past President of HUPO

Dr. Rolf Apweiler is Joint Head of the Protein and Nucleotide Database (PANDA) Group at the European Bioinformatics Institute, European Molecular Biology Laboratories; he is the Chair of HUPO Executive Committee and the President of HUPO