Q&A with the Editor-in-Chief
Get to know our Editor-in-Chief, John O'Neill, as he answers questions about his research and shares his thoughts about becoming involved with the journal.
What is your research background?
I'm really a jack of all trades, master of none. After training as a biochemist in Oxford, I joined Antony Galione's lab for a final year research project on calcium signalling. One of Antony' passing remarks sparked an enduring interest in understanding daily rhythms and sleep, that inspired my move to Cambridge for a circadian neuroscience PhD with Mick Hastings. Around then, the importance of post-translational circadian regulation was just becoming apparent and got me thinking about evolutionary and systems biology approaches to understanding how individual cells keep daily time. I joined Andrew Millar's lab in Edinburgh to pursue this, working on the daily clockwork in picoeukaryotic algae. I was then fortunate enough to be able to extend our findings to the metabolism of human cells at the Institute of Metabolic Science in Cambridge with Ak Reddy. My independent lab was established in Cell Biology Division of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 2013 to work on the physiological consequences and molecular mechanisms of circadian and other biological rhythms.
What is your favourite thing about research?
The freedom of ideas. It is an incredible privilege to be able to discuss interesting problems with friends and colleagues, formulate hypotheses and then work out how to test them. The nature of circadian and sleep research means that experiments often take months or years, so the more prior thought and discussion that goes into each experiment, the better.
What is the best advice you can give to early career researchers?
Focus: pick a question you find interesting then work to answer it. Avoid the temptation to follow fashion but do keep an eye out for useful new techniques, technologies and concepts. The quality of your science is more important than the quantity. Talk to everybody but don't spread yourself too thin with collaborations. Unless they're going to be a lot of fun or very rewarding, try to politely decline invitations and opportunities that might distract from answering your question.
What has been your biggest challenge and your greatest achievement in your career so far?
Ironically, time management is the biggest and ongoing challenge of my career. My greatest achievement is that lab members are happy to disagree with me when they think I'm wrong.
What are you most looking forward to in your role as Editor-in-Chief?
Sampling the astounding diversity of excellent research on biological rhythms and sleep, whilst bringing together disparate disciplines and encouraging disruptive science.
How will you steer the development of npj Biological Timing and Sleep?
Along with our fantastic board members, the editorial team simply hope to ensure that good research on rhythms and sleep is freely accessible and inclusive for scientists of all ages, career stage and backgrounds.
Why should researchers submit their work to npj Biological Timing and Sleep?
First, a pleasant author experience that prioritises brisk and constructive peer review. Second, an emphasis on accessibility in terms of both publication costs and reader experience. Third, because we will be community driven and responsive to developing themes. Finally, because of the high quality of the work the journal publishes.
