Elizabeth Gaskell

Associate Scientific Editor, Molecular Cell

I am a Scientific Editor for Molecular Cell. This role has many facets, the main ones being guiding many manuscripts through peer review, and constantly innovating to improve the peer review process. I also manage the front half of Molecular Cell which consists of news articles and literature reviews. I write and curate The Female Scientist, a bi-weekly column of the Cell Press blog (CrossTalk), which aims to celebrate, support, and increase the proportion of women in STEM. As Cell Press editors we also run many international meetings in collaboration with the scientific community.
My undergraduate degree and PhD are both in biochemistry, and were obtained at UMIST and the University of Leeds in the UK. My graduate work was under the guidance of Professors Judith Smith and Glenn McConkey, and focused on the metabolism of the intracellular parasites Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. Following my PhD I took the unusual step of moving straight into scientific editorial work, taking my first editorial job at BioMed Central in 2008 as an editor for Genome Biology. From there I moved to Molecular Cell in 2011. I have a wonderful daughter, and my little American-British family now calls Massachusetts home.

Life in Scientific Publishing

I am often asked why I chose an "alternative science career". I always suggest that these days the traditional academic track leading to professorship is the alternative career for PhD trained scientists. I'll tell you about why I chose a career in scientific publishing, how I found my way to Molecular Cell, and why this job is fun and rewarding. I'll try to open up the black box of peer review and answer your questions about what goes on behind-the-scenes when you submit your paper. I'll also talk about how publishers can help achieve gender balance in STEM. Including ongoing efforts at Cell Press to ensure balanced representation on our editorial boards, reviewer selections, and at our conferences.

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