After guiding journal to international prominence NCNPR director steps down as editor-in-chief Larry A. Walker, director of The University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), is stepping down from his longtime editorship of a leading scholarly journal. The pharmacologist became editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biomolecular Screening in 1999. Under Walker’s leadership, the official journal of the Society for Biomolecular Sciences has come to be recognized as the premier journal in the drug-discovery field. Submissions from biochemical research sectors have increased 260 percent since 2000, and submissions from academic laboratories increased 500 percent during that same period. Published eight times per year, the journal has recorded a 500 percent increase in institutional subscriptions since 2003. Its circulation is approximately 2,000. Renowned for his scientific research and respected for his academic scholarship, Walker is praised by his peers at UM for his excellence while editor. “Dr. Walker has provided extraordinary leadership in making JBS the premier journal on drug discovery,” said Alice Clark, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs. “The position of editor-in-chief of a major scientific journal is vested only in individuals with a broad vision of the field and the respect of their peers. This particular journal brings together scientists from many disciplines, the public and private sectors, and the international arena.” Walker expects to end his tenure with the publication within the year. “I will continue for a few months as editor-in-chief,” he said. “I am turning over the bulk of the editor duties to an executive editor, who will probably have all of [the duties] in the near future.” Said Barbara Wells, dean of the School of Pharmacy, “Dr. Walker has taken this nascent journal and developed it into a first-rate periodical that has truly moved the discipline forward.” Susan Manly, associate director of NCNPR, agreed, saying, “This journal serves as a focal point for the growing community of scientists interested in making drug discovery a less difficult task. Dr. Walker is highly regarded as the person with the foresight, determination, and talent to get the journal and the society off the ground and into its current vigorous status.” After serving a year as interim director of NCNPR, Walker was named the center’s director in 2002. Before that, he was the center’s associate director and research professor in the pharmacy school. Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Oglethorpe University, a bachelor’s in pharmacy from Mercer University and a doctorate in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. He joined the UM faculty in 1981. His research interests are in natural products drug discovery, including development of laboratory techniques to test potential new drugs for biological activity, defining their physical and chemical properties and their toxicity. He has been principal investigator for many research projects and published dozens of peer–reviewed scientific journal papers. Home