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WELL, NOT QUITE, but the accession of a new Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors to a Journal leadership position provides an opportunity for building on past achievements and for moving forward in a way that reflects the ever changing scientific and cultural environment in which we live and work. I am delighted and honored to have been given the opportunity to take over as Editor from Kim Barrett, who has been at the helm of the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology for the past six years and who has worked tirelessly to improve the publication experience and the quality of the Journal during this time. I have learned much from her during many discussions. As a member of the Editorial Board, her advice and innovative thinking will continue to be an invaluable resource as we continue the process of moving the Journal forward into new standards of excellence in the dawn of the 21st century.

On examining the content of AJP Cell Physiology over the past few years, it is apparent that one of the Journal's major strengths is that it attracts a broad range of manuscripts dealing with many aspects of cell physiology in a variety of tissues, organs, and cell types. However, our immediate task is to bring more focus to the Journal by redefining its central themes and topics in a way that will continue to provide an outlet for manuscripts describing important cellular events related to the function of diverse cell types. At the same time, we must provide the Journal with a sharper identity in terms of what the reader expects to find inside upon opening the cover. Our aim, therefore, is to deliver a product that will grow into the obvious choice for the publication of manuscripts examining the interrelationship between initial cell signaling events, the intracellular consequences of these events, and the final physiological end point at the level of cellular function. Special efforts will be made to attract manuscripts in the area of translational research. The contents page of the Journal will be subdivided into different topic areas, including (but not restricted to) "Vascular and Endothelial Cells," "Vesicle and Protein Trafficking," "Muscle Physiology," and "Ion Channel Regulation." Readers will then be able to identify papers of interest without having to browse through the entire Table of Contents. Cross-referencing will help ensure that related papers in other sections will not be overlooked. We will continue the successful Editorial Focus series and will strive to attract in every issue high-quality reviews (both full length and more concise) from leaders in the field.

The new group of Associate Editors has been chosen to reflect this mission, and I am pleased to say that Seth Alper (Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA), Bill Gerthoffer (University of Nevada, Reno, NV), Kathy Griendling (Emory University, Atlanta, GA), Kathy Sweadner (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA), and Jennifer Stow (University of Brisbane, Australia) will be joining the team. Kevin Strange and Paul Insel will stay on as Associate Editors. The Board members all have strong national and international reputations in their areas of expertise, and they will work hard to promote the Journal and to attract the highest quality science into its pages. Within their specific areas of interest, ranging from vascular endothelial cells and muscle cells to epithelial cells, the Board members all share an interest in cell signaling processes and their relationship to physiological events. The addition of Australia-based Jennifer Stow to the Board reflects not only our aim to attract more cell biological/trafficking studies to the Journal but also our desire to promote the international nature of AJP Cell-Physiology. The former Associate Editors (Art Mercurio, Kathy Morgan, Kevin Foskett, and Tim Bigby) all made substantial and significant contributions to the success of the Journal, and on behalf of the American Physiology Society, I thank them for outstanding service over the past several years.

Together with recent advances and improvements in the submission and publication process, including the maturing of the APS Central website, provision of free color to APS members, AJP Articles in PresS, and reduced reviewing and publication delays, we hope that the new crew of AJP-Cell Physiology will maintain the constant improvements that were achieved under the leadership of Kim Barrett. We are sure that it will continue to sail forward to become the leading journal in the area of cellular physiology. The title of this editorial should actually read, "And now for something somewhat different."