Meet PLOS Medicine Executive Editor, Raffaella Bosurgi

Get to know the editor behind your PLOS Medicine manuscript! We’re kicking off a new, monthly Meet-Your-Editor series with an interview from executive editor Raffaella Bosurgi.

Raffaella joined PLOS Medicine in January 2021 and is the newest member of our staff editorial team. She enjoys leading staff editors and editorial board members in growing and shaping the vision and mission of the journal.  Learn about her research background, developments in the field she’s excited about, thoughts on Open Science, and recommended reads for the PLOS Medicine community. 

What is the specific background and expertise you bring to PLOS Medicine?

I am a neuroscientist with an environmental technology background. I hold a PhD in neuroscience, a postdoctoral fellowship on anxiety and depression and a Master in Environmental Technology and many years of experience in academia and in the medical publishing world having worked for the BMJ and the Lancet previously. I bring my passion for open science and my environmental perspective on health in addition to my extensive experience as a medical editor.

In your work as an Executive Editor, what do you find especially rewarding?

Being able to shape the vision and mission of  such a high impact medical journal is more than rewarding. I also enjoy leading my team. It is an honor to work with such competent and experienced people. The community of academic editors at PLOS Medicine is also unique and I find very interesting and revolutionary the way PLOS has been engaging with them over the past years. We will certainly continue this.

What does PLOS’ vision for Open Science mean to you?

Empowering researchers and authors, and contributing to the building of a community that trusts the way journals handle the manuscripts assessing them as transparently as possible is key in the publishing world given the challenges the world is facing lately, and I am proud to be part of an organization that advances Open Science to ensure important research is shared equitably and broadly trusted.

I am proud to be part of an organization that advances Open Science to ensure important research is shared equitably and broadly trusted.

What developments are occurring in Medicine/ your field of expertise that excite you at this time?

Today’s new challenges are represented by environmental risks such as climate change, air pollution, and outbreaks of infectious diseases as a result of overexploitation of natural resources, land degradation, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, and natural disasters. The need to raise awareness and promote acceptance of these new challenges among clinicians, and prepare them for such risks, remain an important step forward in the next years. Some of these environmental changes drive the development of many of the NCDs and exacerbate mental health issues that may originate from an early age. Addressing mental health remains another of the greatest challenges in the next decades too. I am excited to bring my planetary health perspective to PLOS Medicine.

What is a topic in medical research you wish you knew more about?

I wish I could know more about oncology, a very vast field. I am proud to have people in my team who are experienced enough to guide the development of this area as well.

What is a fun fact about you?

In my spare time, I am a shoe designer and I do acting. I am a runner and a yogi person. I love traveling on my own to remote destinations either alone or with my daughter. I look forward to doing so as soon as it is possible again.

What’s on your reading list for the PLOS Medicine community?