Editorial Board

Samuel Brod, Senior Editor

Prior to joining the BMC series Samuel was an Associate Editor at Scientific Reports, where he helped drive better practice in data presentation at the journal, and worked to improve systematic review and meta-analysis reporting. Before that, he was a Science Manager at the NC3Rs, working to improve the quality and reproducibility of in-vivo research. He holds an MSc in Science Communication from the University of West England and a PhD in inflammatory immunology from Queen Mary University of London. Samuel is a strong advocate for open science and better inter-disciplinary engagement across all research fields.

Maria Hodges, Executive Editor

Dr Maria Hodges manages a team of in-house editors on the BMC Series journals, including the editors for BMC Cancer, BMC Genomics and BMC Plant Biology. She joined the BMC Series in July 2018. Previously, Maria was the Scientific Publications Manager for Cancer Research UK, managing the British Journal of Cancer. Before this, Maria was Acting Editor for Genome Medicine and an Editor for Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. Maria has a PhD in biochemistry from Cancer Research UK. 

Senior Editorial Board Members

Professor Vassya Bankova

Vassya Bankova graduated the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy in Sofia as a chemical engineer majoring in Organic Synthesis. Her career developed at the Institute of Organic Chemistry with Center of Phytochemistry (IOCCP), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PhD and DSc theses in Chemistry of Natural Products. At present full professor at IOCCP. Research interests: new biologically active compounds from medicinal plants, bee products, development of modern methods for analysis of complex extracts of natural products, H-index 47. She is a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and a member of Academia Europaea. 

Professor Livia Simon Sarkadi

Livia Simon Sarkadi is professor at the Department of Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Budapest, Hungary since 2012. She graduated as a Chemical Engineer at the Technical University of Budapest (BUTE), and began her career at the BUTE. She received an Dr Univ. degree in Biochemistry (1986), a CSc degree in Food Chemistry (1991), a Dr habil. (1999), and a DSc degree in Chemical Science (2010). Her research focuses on study of food quality and food safety with particular emphasis on amino acids, and biogenic amines. In addition to her teaching and research activities, she is the President of the Hungarian Chemical Society (2011-); Chair of the Food Science Committee of HAS (2019-); She has served as Chair of the Food Chemistry Division of the European Chemical Societies (EuChemS) between 2009-2014, and as a Member of the EuChemS Executive Board (2014-2021). She received the IUPAC 2015 Distinguished Women in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Awards.

Professor Rui Yang

Dr. Rui Yang received her Ph.D. in polymer materials at Tsinghua University in 2005. She has worked in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University since 1996 and became a professor of polymer materials in 2021. Her research interests include: 1) Aging behavior, mechanism and stability evaluation of polymer materials and lifetime prediction; 2) phase change material (PCM) and composites for thermal energy storage and 3) Structure-property relationship of polymer materials. She has published two textbooks - Analytical Methods for Polymer Characterization (CRC Press) and Advanced Instrumental Analysis of Polymers (Tsinghua University Press). She is the Board member of Youth Council, China Society of Materials Research, the Board member of Materials Division, Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, and the Secretary-general of the Professional Committee on Polymer Materials.

Professor Peng Zhan

Peng Zhan is a full professor in the Institute of Medicinal Chemistry, Shandong University. His research interests involve the discovery of novel anti-viral (HIV, HBV, influenza, coronavirus, etc.), anti-gout, and anti-cancer agents based on rational drug design and combinatorial chemistry approaches.

Professor Vania Zuin Zeidler 

Vania Zuin Zeidler is a professor at the Federal University of São Carlos (Brazil) and visiting professor at the University of York (UK) and Leuphana University (Lüneburg, Germany). Her background is Green and Sustainable Analytical Chemistry, and Green and Sustainable Chemistry Education. Recent distinctions include the 52o and 57o Brazilian Literary Jabuti Awards, the title of Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of York (UK) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), President of the Brazilian Humboldt alumni Association, the IUPAC CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Atmospheric and Green Chemistry and the ACS-CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability in Universities, sponsored by the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI). 

Senior Editor
Samuel Brod, BMC, UK

Executive Editor
Maria Hodges, BMC, UK