Preface

Introducing the Asian Journal of Urology

We are delighted to publish the inaugural issue through which announces the launch of the Asian Journal of Urology(AJU).AJU is an international peer-reviewed journal jointly founded by the Chinese Urological Association(CUA)and the Second Military Medical University(SMMU)in Shanghai,China.The journal will publish articles in urologic specialties both scientifically and clinically.These will comprise urologic oncology,endo-urology,urologic stone disease,female urology,erectile dysfunction,pediatrics,renal transplantation,reconstructive surgery,infertility,radiology,pathology,and neuro-urology.

We are extraordinarily pleased that several outstanding researchers around the world have agreed to serve on the Editorial Board of the journal.We are also most appreciative for the articles that have been submitted to the first issue of the journal.Our gratitude extends to our colleagues with an understanding how their work,by being published in the journal,will profoundly impact the reputation and standard of excellence that AJU seeks to achieve.

Diseases and conditions of the genitourinary system are common health problems that affect people regardless of their demographic backgrounds.Nations and people of Asia share a long intellectual history and tradition of using human intellect and applying natural products for the treatment of many human diseases.In ancient China 1500 years ago,the famous doctor Simiao Sun used green shallots as catheters to relieve acute urinary retention,becoming the de facto predecessor of endo-urology.Others in Asian medicine also made comparable advances.However,a gap has characterized the knowledge and understanding of Asian and Western medicine.

This in more recent times has been compounded by a gap between the advances made by basic scientists and clinicians in healthcare research and has thus stimulated an advocacy for translational medicine to bring the two together.On this basis we believe that by establishing the proper infrastructure AJU can serve as a bridge to promote the collaboration and understanding between clinicians and basic scientists so that productive advances can be made between Asian and Western laboratory and clinical research.

Scientific research in laboratory and clinical urology in Asia has developed substantially with the presentation of new concepts and observations being published at an increasing rate in many international English/Western journals.The AJU editors hope to capitalize on this with the rapid development international cooperation and the creation of an opportunity to understand difference as well as commonalities of urologic diseases and conditions among individuals of different races and regions.

With this in mind,we expect AJU to provide high-level laboratory and clinical research on urologic diseases and conditions with a focus not only related to Asian population but also applied to population in the rest of the world.We would like to share new discoveries,technologies,theories,and experiences on urologic diseases and thereby to promote the enhancement of urologic health in Asian and beyond.

Our goals are set high.However,in working together we do hope to allow the Asia to contribute to an improvement in an understanding of urologic healthcare that can be applied worldwide.

Yinghao Sun,Editor-in-Chief,Asian Journal of Urology,

Second Military Medical University,Shanghai,China

E-mail address:sunyh@medmail.com.cn

Leland W.K.Chung,Editor-in-Chief,Asian Journal of Urology,

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,Los Angeles,CA,USA

E-mail address:Leland.Chung@cshs.org

Michael J.Droller,Editor-in-Chief,Asian Journal of Urology,

Mount Sinai Hospital,New York City,NY,USA

E-mail address:Michael.droller@mountsinai.org

26 August 2014

Available online 13 September 2014

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajur.2015.04.001

2214-3882/a2014 Editorial Office of Asian Journal of Urology.Production and hosting by Elsevier(Singapore)Pte Ltd.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).