In 2025, many JGO authors make outstanding contributions to our journal. Their articles published with us have received very well feedback in the field and stimulate a lot of discussions and new insights among the peers.
Hereby, we would like to highlight some of our outstanding authors who have been making immense efforts in their research fields, with a brief interview of their unique perspective and insightful view as authors.
Outstanding Authors (2025)
Janio Szklaruk, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Mélodie Cyr, McGill University, Canada
Stefan Longobardi, HCA Florida Blake Hospital, USA
Alexandre A. Jácome, Oncoclinicas, Brazil
Vlasios S. Sotirchos, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
Akira Saito, Jichi Medical University, Japan
Kiyoaki Sugiura, Eiju General Hospital, Japan
Outstanding Author
Janio Szklaruk
Janio Szklaruk has been a Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2000. He specializes in hepatobiliary oncologic imaging and advanced MR techniques. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a Diagnostic Radiology residency at Thomas Jefferson University. Before his medical training, he obtained a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from SUNY Stony Brook. He previously served as an Assistant Professor at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. His research focuses on developing and evaluating novel MR imaging techniques and assessing their added value in oncologic imaging, particularly hepatobiliary malignancies. Through his work, he aims to improve diagnostic accuracy and optimize imaging applications in cancer care.
In Dr. Szklaruk’s view, the role of academic writing in science, particularly in imaging, is to share new discoveries, improve patient care, educate, and evaluate the added value of imaging techniques. Through peer-reviewed publications, researchers disseminate novel findings that advance imaging technology and its clinical applications. Academic writing also serves as a critical tool for educating radiologists, clinicians, and scientists about emerging techniques and best practices. By rigorously assessing the benefits and limitations of imaging modalities, scholarly work contributes to evidence-based improvements in patient diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Szklaruk thinks keeping up with advances in science is a constant challenge. To ensure that academic writing remains up-to-date and provides new insights, it is essential to conduct a thorough review of the current literature using multiple scientific search platforms. This approach allows researchers to stay informed about the latest developments and emerging trends in the field. Once he develops a hypothesis, reviewing recent studies helps refine research questions, validate methodologies, and position findings within the broader scientific context.
“Intellectual curiosity motivates me to begin a research project, driving me to explore new questions and uncover meaningful insights. The writing process, however, is fueled by my desire to share the results with the scientific community and contribute to the advancement of knowledge. More importantly, publishing research plays a crucial role in improving patient care by disseminating findings that enhance diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision-making. Through academic writing, I am to translate research into practical applications ensuring that innovations in imaging continue to refine and optimize medical practice,” says Dr. Szklaruk.
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)
Atsushi Yamaguchi
Dr. Atsushi Yamaguchi is affiliated with the Department of Gastroenterology at the National Hospital Organization Kure Medical Center and Chugoku Cancer Center in Hiroshima, Japan. He belongs to the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences of Hiroshima University. His primary focus is on pancreato-biliary diseases, particularly endoscopic diagnosis, and intervention. He is especially interested in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, nutritional therapy for pancreato-biliary cancer patients with cancer cachexia, and management of very elderly patients with benign disease.
JGO: What role does academic writing play in science?
Dr. Yamaguchi: While one manuscript, such as a case report, may not immediately change common scientific practice, over time, the accumulation of academic writing contributes to the advancement of science.
JGO: Academic writing takes a lot of time and effort. What motivates you to do so?
Dr. Yamaguchi: First, writing a manuscript creates a record of my journey as a physician, preserving our collective progress for future researchers. Second, completing a manuscript is incredibly rewarding, and I feel an even greater sense of accomplishment when my work is read and cited by others. Third, reviewing manuscripts written by peers is essential for expanding my own knowledge and capabilities. These works often present insights and experiences beyond what I could encounter on my own, ultimately helping me grow as a researcher and better serve my patients.
JGO: Science advances rapidly day by day. How do you ensure your writing is up-to-date and can give new insights into the field of research?
Dr. Yamaguchi: I stay current and expand my knowledge by attending conferences, reviewing manuscripts from other researchers, and engaging in discussions with colleagues. Equally important is my hands-on involvement with patient care, which gives me a direct understanding of each patient’s background and needs, rather than relying solely on subordinates. Ultimately, medicine exists to benefit patients, and efforts aimed at improving patient outcomes drive the advancement of science.
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)
Mélodie Cyr
Mélodie Cyr is a doctoral student in the Medical Physics Unit, Department of Oncology at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Under the supervision of Dr. Shirin A. Enger, Mélodie’s research focuses on the effects of alpha-particle irradiation on human colorectal adenocarcinoma. Given the rising incidence of colorectal adenocarcinoma, she has refined an orthotopic intra-rectal colorectal adenocarcinoma murine model to advance pre-clinical research. This model has been instrumental in studying metal artifact reduction in magnetic resonance imaging using stainless-steel alpha-emitting interstitial sources, as well as in measuring the diffusion lengths of alpha-emitting radioactive daughters from these sources. Her work extends to the dosimetry and physics interactions of alpha-particles, utilizing radiochromic film to enhance measurement accuracy. Additionally, she investigates the radiation biology of alpha-emitting interstitial sources to better understand their therapeutic impact, mitigate toxicities, and ultimately improve the quality of life for colorectal cancer patients.
In Mélodie’s view, academic writing is essential to scientific progress, providing a structured and precise means of communicating research findings, theories, and methodologies. A well-structured scientific paper ensures rigorous documentation of experiments, analyses, and conclusions, enabling reproducibility and validation by other researchers. Moreover, it encourages collaboration and critical discourse, allowing researchers to challenge, refine, and expand upon existing knowledge, ultimately advancing multiple disciplines.
Mélodie thinks keeping academic writing up-to-date requires continuous learning, critical analysis, and strategic communication. Regularly reviewing recent publications and conference proceedings ensures that the latest findings are integrated into researchers’ work. Additionally, engaging with peers, mentors, and interdisciplinary researchers offers fresh perspectives that refine and strengthen their writing.
“Effective manuscript writing requires strategic time management, structured scheduling, and discipline. Recognizing its importance, I allocate dedicated time to writing in my schedule. To make the process more manageable, I break it down into smaller, achievable tasks, such as outlining, drafting specific sections, and revising figures. This approach allows me to integrate writing seamlessly into my busy routine. Additionally, I utilize the Pomodoro technique to maintain focus and structure my writing sessions, incorporating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals to enhance productivity and ensure steady progress,” says Mélodie.
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)
Stefan Longobardi
Dr. Stefan Longobardi is a PGY3 Internal Medicine Resident at HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton, Florida. He was raised in Fort Myers, Florida. His path into medicine was nontraditional; he chose to study at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, graduating in 2022. He worked hard to cultivate an understanding of the basic sciences and the pathophysiological mechanisms of disease. He holds an appreciation for how scientific advancements build on foundational knowledge, in turn shaping modern medicine. This ignited his interest in Hematology and Oncology—an innovative field that shares these principles at its core. He believes a solid foundation in the basic sciences is invaluable to transition into clinical practice. His current manuscript focuses on colorectal cancer, as it is largely preventable with an extensively studied pathophysiological basis. He focuses on the importance of colorectal cancer screening, especially in Hungary where the rates are among the world's highest. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Dr. Longobardi thinks academic writing plays a pivotal role in science and the scientific method. Although he is early in his career and relatively new to research, he deeply appreciates how academic writing can spur innovation and improve patient care outcomes. It is a way to initiate, disseminate, archive, reproduce, and validate ideas that have profound utility in society. He believes that the intersection of academic writing, modern technology, and globalization is creating an unprecedented era of discovery and advancement in the scientific community, which he feels extremely excited to witness, and privileged to take part in. It is the primary motivation for him to pursue further training in Hematology and Medical Oncology, a field that beautifully exemplifies all these elements.
To keep one’s writing up-to-date, Dr. Longobardi emphasizes the importance of thoroughly exploring the theoretical and pathophysiological foundations of a topic before writing about it. He strives to take a systematic approach. This implies compiling the existing literature on the topic and analyzing every pertinent aspect within the realm of his knowledge. Once he achieves a broad and increasingly nuanced understanding of the topic, he reads the most up-to-date literature and tries to identify gaps and/or potential areas for further investigation. He remains critical of everything he reads and even his own ideas. In this way, he tries to eliminate all biases that can significantly hinder an otherwise great research question. He adds, “I see academic writing as a means of personal development as it requires a significant commitment of time and multiple harmonizing skill sets. Additionally, keeping up with existing literature to stay up to date is extremely challenging. The fact of the matter is that it requires time, consistency, and discipline. Therefore, I prefer to write about topics that both are interesting and mean a lot to me. I believe this will show in my work; and, by definition, will provide new insights.”
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)
Alexandre A. Jácome
Dr. Alexandre A. Jácome has pursued a medical career offering him the triad of medical care, education, and research. After obtaining an MD degree and completing Clinical Fellowship in Internal Medicine and Clinical Oncology in Brazil, he completed a Doctorate (PhD) in Sciences at the University of São Paulo (USP Ribeirão Preto), in a research project evaluating the prognostic role of EGFR family in gastric cancer, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2018-2019, mainly focused on research projects in lower gastrointestinal cancers. Based on this clinical, educational, and research background, he worked as Director of Education at the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology from 2021-2023, and he has been working as the Leader of the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Oncoclinicas, Brazil, since 2020. In his institution, he has been fully focused on the clinical management of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, as well as working on the conception of investigator-initiated research projects and collaboration on international multicentric clinical trials. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Dr. Jácome thinks an interesting academic paper should have key elements and a stepwise elaboration: first of all, it must have an underlying relevant question. In the medical field, this question should preferentially be clinically relevant. The paper needs to fill a gap in the medical literature, originally contributing to the field. Second, it should have a clear objective. Third, appropriate and valid methods should be used to reach the objective. Fourth, the results should be reported in an objective language. At last, it states if the objectives were met, discusses its findings, contextualizes them in the medical literature, and compares its results to similar studies within the field. Obviously, the manuscript must follow the principles of appropriate scientific writing and a well-written English language.
To avoid biases in writing, Dr. Jácome believes authors must respect their data, reporting them to the scientific community in a very objective and impartial language. In the discussion section, the authors should comment on their results, comparing them to similar studies, and whether their findings agree or disagree with those published. Authors also should be thorough in the report of similar studies, bringing to the discussion as many equivalent studies as possible, in order to be impartial. As Karl Popper said, “Nothing in science is permanently established, nothing unalterable. All knowledge is provisional or temporary”. Therefore, every result is welcomed, concordant or not, and every study brings contributions to the field since it follows the core scientific methods.
Lastly,Dr. Jácome would like to say a few words to his peers, “In every scientific field, we urgently need data to enhance our understanding of nature, improve the population's quality of life, and make informed clinical decisions in medical sciences. Therefore, since the authors follow the core principles of the scientific methodology, every study is important and should be published. Reproducibility is one of the most important characteristics of a scientific hypothesis. Any study will represent the whole population of the world or will be totally representative of the truth. Therefore, the scientific truth is made of a combination of studies, each one bringing different aspects and perspectives on the topic. Thus, bring your data and you will make a meaningful contribution to your scientific field.”
(by Sasa Zhu, Brad Li)
Vlasios S. Sotirchos
Dr. Vlasios S. Sotirchos is an Interventional Radiologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and an Assistant Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Following his graduation from medical school from the University of Athens in Greece, he relocated to the United States where he completed a research fellowship focused on Interventional Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He then completed his diagnostic and interventional radiology residencies at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, as well as an imaging informatics fellowship at the same institution. His clinical practice and research are focused on the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver and lungs with locoregional methods (e.g. percutaneous ablation, yttrium-90 radioembolization) and palliative interventions for oncologic patients. Visit Dr. Sotirchos’ profile here.
The way Dr. Sotirchos sees it, a “good” paper needs to answer a specific question with clinical relevance. It is crucial to have a deep understanding of the existing literature on the topic to identify the gaps that need to be addressed. Moreover, adhering to reporting checklists (e.g. CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA) is important to ensure that all essential elements have been included in the paper, which can facilitate peer review and study reproducibility.
Scientific manuscripts are often the result of several months or even years of hard work on a very specific topic. In Dr. Sotirchos’ opinion, when preparing a paper, it is important for authors to “take a step back” and provide context, use clear language and emphasize the implications of their findings, keeping in mind that most of the journal audience will not have the same in-depth knowledge on the topic.
“There have been significant advancements in interventional oncology over the past decade that have revolutionized cancer care. Many studies reporting these developments have been published in radiology or IR-themed journals, limiting visibility among other specialties. I believe that there are benefits to publishing in journals with a broad audience, such as JGO. This can help increase awareness within the medical oncology community of what we can offer in IR and ultimately improve patient access to these minimally invasive treatments,” says Dr. Sotirchos.
(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)
Akira Saito
Akira Saito currently serves at the Department of Surgery, Division of Gastroenterological, General and Transplant Surgery, Jichi Medical University. His research areas include tumor microenvironment and effects of anti-diabetic drugs on solid tumors, with a recent focus on the usefulness of anti-claudin 18.2 antibody for peritoneal dissemination of gastric cancer.
JGO: What are the key skill sets of an author?
Dr. Saito: I think the most important thing is to write in a way that anyone can understand. The more specialized the content of an academic paper is, the more difficult it becomes to write. I think a good paper is one that can be read by as many people as possible and that avoids misunderstandings. To achieve this, originality is necessary in the content, but I don't think originality is necessary in the way we write it.
JGO: How to avoid biases in one’s writing?
Dr. Saito: It's tempting to think that the conclusion we have reached is absolutely correct. However, we need to reconsider our conclusion from the perspective of whether it's wrong or if there are other ways of looking at it. When writing our conclusion, it's important to avoid making assertions and to carefully explain our results after stating our observations from different angles.
JGO: Do you have any words for your peers?
Dr. Saito: I think the most important thing is a passion for communicating the content of our research. There may be times when the conclusion we have reached differs from existing reports. If we try to post that content, it is easy to imagine that we will be met with backlash. However, if we have confidence in our conclusion and have considered it deeply on the theoretical basis, there should be a theory that leads to our results. For that reason, it is very important to consider as many existing reports as possible and to think about things from different perspectives. These tasks require a lot of perseverance. I think we need the passion to do this work without cutting corners until the end.
(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)
Kiyoaki Sugiura
Kiyoaki Sugiura, MD, PhD, is an attending staff at the Department of Surgery, Eiju General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Surgery at Keio University School of Medicine. His research areas cover surgery and chemotherapy for colorectal cancer, and general and gastrointestinal surgeries. Recent focuses include minimal invasive surgery/robotic surgery for colorectal cancer, and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer.
In Dr. Sugiura’s view, the role academic writing plays in science, especially in medical science, is to share the knowledge and experience to overcome individual limit. There are limits to individual effort in gaining a wide range of experience and facing new challenge in discoveries. Academic writing pushes the limits and provides every clinician with evidence-based best clinical practice, contributing to patients benefits. Through academic writing, authors contribute to the development of the entire scientific community.
To ensure one’s writing is critical, Dr. Sugiura thinks that one would be better off complying the format that is accepted in the academic field and having his/her writing checked by others, preferably someone with significant experience. Because writing and checking by oneself can often lead to self-centered thinking and a loss of critical perspective, format-based writing and peer review before and after submission are good options to introduce critical view in one’s writing.
When it comes to the importance for research to apply for institutional review board (IRB) approval, Dr. Sugiura reckons that in medical research, novel interventions should be tested to develop higher standards of clinical practice. However, novel interventions inevitably carry the potential to cause harm to human or experimental animals. Although the risk-associated novel interventions are inevitable, IRB is essential for minimizing risks and maximizing benefits, both clinically and ethically.
(by Brad Li, Masaki Lo)