Fixation on Histology

On a sunny day in Missouri, you might find Yongfu Wang, PhD, unwinding in his garden as he seeds, fertilizes, waters and harvests vegetables from his garden that sits at the corner of his yard. What many would consider “work”, Wang sees as a way to destress and unwind after a busy day in the histology lab.

Dr. Wang was recently appointed Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Journal of Histotechnology (JOH) taking over the helm from Gayle Callis, BS, HT(ASCP), HTL(ASCP), MT(ASCP) who recently retired.  Dr. Wang initially learned about histology in his grad and post-grad years where he learned a variety of histology techniques, such as sectioning, H&E staining, and immunohistochemical assays. It was in 2015 that Dr. Wang joined the Histology Department at Stowers Institute where he was given the chance to become an NSH member which provided him the ability to connect with his peers. One might say this “seeded” the opportunity for Dr. Wang to form and develop relationships that allowed him the opportunity to serve as an Associate Editor for JOH in 2018 before being appointed EIC.

Dr. Wang’s goal is to grow the Journal  into an impactful scientific publication that benefits not only the histology community, but the broader community as well. Just like the vegetables in his garden, Dr. Wang knows this will take lots of fertilizing, watering and nurturing before being rewarded with the final harvest.

His first goal is to continue the legacy of Gayle Callis, whose focus was on emphasizing the importance of reproducibility for all accepted manuscripts. Dr. Wang says “All histologists should be able to repeat the results and protocols of publications in the Journal.”  He will also lead the JOH to seek to publish useful and practical methods, protocols, and research findings using cutting-edge technologies involving histology. For example, tissue clearing and modification, hi-plex immunohistochemistry assays, spatial biology, multi-omics, etc.  Additionally, the JOH will focus on publishing more evidence-based surveys, policy reviews/revisit/critiques/perspectives, and compliance considerations that would advocate for the Histotechnology profession.

Dr. Wang knows there is lots of work ahead of him and his team of Editors, but he also knows NSH will reap the rewards from growing the JOH into a high-tier journal. He encourages members to reach out with their ideas and feedback.

Read the latest issue of JOH.

Written by: Alisha Yocum, NSH Manager of Membership & Publications