t is a pleasure to announce that the new Editor in Chief of Papillomavirus Research, the Journal of the International  Papillomavirus Society will be Dr Lawrence Banks Director-General of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Trieste Italy https://contao.icgeb.org/lawrence-anks.html. Dr Banks is a distinguished molecular virologist who has made important contributions to our understanding of the mechanisms by which the high-risk HPV early genes E6 and E7 disrupt proliferation and differentiation in HPV induced carcinogenesis.

Dr Banks succeeds Dr Xavier Bosch of ICO Barcelona Spain as Editor in Chief. Dr Bosch has been the driving force in bringing the journal from its conception and birth, as a new open-access journal devoted to and covering the spectrum of papillomavirus research, to its current position indexed in PubMed. In view of the intense activity in the open-access publishing world and the competition from existing and new web-based scientific communication platforms and the plethora of new predatory publications, this is really a major achievement. Simply saying thank you to Xavier seems inadequate but our sincere appreciation and gratitude to you from the papillomavirus community for putting the journal where it is today in the publishing world.

Welcome to Lawrence the new EIC who brings experience and knowledge of both the scientific and publishing landscape to take PVR forward in a challenging environment.

There are two vacancies on the Editorial Board Anna Giuliano and Jack Cuzick have stepped down at the end of their 3-year tenure and the process for replacing them is in progress. On behalf of the Society, I should like to thank Anna and Jack for their contribution as editors to the journal and their willingness to participate in what can be significant extra work in the lives of busy people. Thank you again for a great job.