In 2025, many authors make outstanding contributions to our journal. Their articles published with us have received very well feedback in the field and stimulate a lot of discussions and new insights among the peers.
Hereby, we would like to highlight some of our outstanding authors, with a brief interview of their thoughts and insights as authors. Allow us to express our heartfelt gratitude for their tremendous effort and valuable contributions to the scientific process.
Outstanding Authors (2026)
Dimitrios Kehagias, St Andrew’s General Hospital of Patras, Greece
Wenxue Ma, University of California, USA
Outstanding Author
Dimitrios Kehagias
Dimitrios Kehagias, MD, PhD, FEBS, is a Consultant Surgeon at St Andrew’s General Hospital of Patras, Greece. He completed his general surgery training in Greece and pursued further subspecialty training in upper gastrointestinal surgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals, UK, and colorectal surgery at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, UK. He trained at the University General Hospital of Patras, a referral center for metabolic bariatric surgery and surgical oncology, where he also completed his PhD focusing on metabolic bariatric surgery. His research interests include metabolic bariatric surgery, colorectal surgery, and upper gastrointestinal surgery, with an emphasis on clinical research and outcomes. He is currently participating in a European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) program, focusing on surgical education and mentorship. Dr. Kehagias is a Fellow of the European Board of Surgery in General Surgery and is committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care while adhering to contemporary surgical standards, research, and lifelong professional development. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
In Dr. Kehagias’ opinion, academic writing poses significant challenges for early-career surgeons. First, initiating research is often the hardest step due to limited mentorship and heavy clinical workloads, making it highly dependent on personal initiative. Building methodological skills requires extensive reading and critical appraisal of the literature, typically progressing from simple to more complex study designs. Second, sustaining productivity is difficult without a reliable, like-minded research team. Third, the learning curve is steep; early mistakes are inevitable but essential for improvement. Actively serving as a peer reviewer can accelerate progress by exposing authors to common pitfalls, editorial standards, and best practices, leading to stronger study designs, clearer reporting, and higher acceptance rates. Ultimately, while mentorship is valuable, self-motivation and consistency are the key drivers of long-term success in academic writing.
According to Dr. Kehagias, balancing clinical practice and academic writing is highly demanding. Writing a paper can initially feel overwhelming and uncertain, yet it remains an intellectually rewarding process. Effective time management is crucial to sustain productivity and prevent burnout. This often requires dedicating personal time—such as evenings or weekends—while carefully monitoring one’s physical and mental well-being. Consistency is essential: even small daily efforts maintain momentum and avoid the setbacks caused by long gaps. Self-discipline is vital when leading projects, but clinical responsibilities must always take priority. Ultimately, success depends on achieving balance across clinical duties, research, and personal life, supported by a positive environment, long-term focus, and resilience against challenges.
What makes academic writing fascinating, from Dr. Kehagias’ perspective, is its transformative power: it turns an initially daunting idea into a structured scientific contribution shared with the medical community. The process itself is highly educational, strengthening research methodology, study design, critical appraisal, and both clinical and scientific thinking. On a personal level, it fulfills ambitions, creates lasting work, and brings pride to colleagues, mentors, and family while inspiring juniors. It also delivers peer recognition, boosts confidence and resilience, enhances the academic CV, and opens doors to international collaborations. Ultimately, it is a continuous learning journey that keeps one engaged with evolving evidence and serves as a valuable complement to clinical practice.
(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)
Wenxue Ma
Dr. Wenxue Ma, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist serving as Director of Drug Discovery at the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, University of California, San Diego. His work focuses on cancer immunotherapy, tumor microenvironment, and cancer stem cell biology, with an emphasis on translating mechanistic insights into therapeutic strategies. He has led the development of novel approaches targeting leukemia stem cells, including Rebecsinib, a small-molecule modulator of splicing-mediated ADAR1 activation. His recent research integrates engineered immune cell therapies, biomarker discovery, and nanomedicine to overcome therapeutic resistance in both solid and hematologic malignancies. He actively contributes to the scientific community as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Immunology and Frontiers in Oncology and serves on multiple editorial boards. His goal is to bridge laboratory discoveries with clinical impact and improve patient outcomes through precision oncology. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Dr. Ma asserts that academic writing goes beyond merely reporting results; it is essential for the advancement of science. It provides a structured and transparent framework to communicate ideas, validate findings, and challenge existing knowledge. In translational medicine, this becomes even more critical because the accuracy and clarity of scientific communication directly influence how discoveries are interpreted and ultimately applied in the clinic. Well-crafted academic writing ensures that research is not only understood but also reproducible, credible, and impactful.
In Dr. Ma’s view, an effective author skillfully combines rigor and clarity. Scientific integrity is fundamental; data must be reported accurately, limitations acknowledged, and conclusions kept proportional to the evidence. At the same time, authors should be able to distill complex concepts into clear and logical narratives. Critical thinking is essential, particularly in identifying knowledge gaps and avoiding over interpretation. He also believes that impactful authors share a forward-looking mindset: they do not just summarize what is known but help define what should come next.
In addition, Dr. Ma thinks that data sharing is becoming an essential component of high-quality scientific research. It strengthens transparency and reproducibility, which are central to scientific credibility. Open data also accelerate progress by allowing other researchers to validate findings, perform integrative analyses, and generate new hypotheses. This is particularly important in complex fields such as cancer and immunotherapy, where large and diverse datasets are needed to capture biological heterogeneity. That said, data sharing must be implemented responsibly, with careful attention to patient privacy, ethical standards, and data quality.
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)