Carta do editor

Abstract

Before sitting down to pen these modest lines, I found myself mulling over the countless noteworthy events that required some deep thinking and responsive action over the past year. No doubt about it, 2006 was a landmark year for us: We commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz. In late 2005, the newly elected board of directors was sworn in and began its work; at the helm, Nara Azevedo, with her trademark drive and objectivity-saravá! The year also brought the unpleasant dismissals of colleagues at the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. These were countered by the addition of new personnel, admitted after passing a placement exam. One of these new staff members is Regina Celie Simões Marques, who recently joined our stalwart team. Given her skills and enthusiasm, I'm certain Regina will be our gain. Another bit of good news was that we finally moved our editorial offices from the cramped annex of the Prédio do Relógio (Watch Building) to a much better space, located next to the head offices of the Museu da Vida on the Fiocruz campus. In addition, with only three regular issues previously put out each year, in 2006 História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos made its debut as a quarterly periodical and also premiered on the Medline database. Another major milestone of 2006 was the inclusion of the entire collection of our e-journal on SciELO (www.scielo.br/hcsm). Some articles will be selected by the editors to appear in both Portuguese and English online. Unfortunately, budgetary constraints force us to continue publishing the hard copy in only one language. Over two years ago, with the help of Gabriel Baptista Nicolini-then a student research assistant-we started gathering data for an in-depth analysis of our journal, then just ten years old. With Amanda Mendonça in Gabriel's old spot, we completed the job in 2006. When HCS-Manguinhos opens its thirteenth year and releases its forty-ninth issue, you, our readers, will be treated to an intimate portrait of this teenage periodical. We'd like to hear from you more often-your opinions, your criticisms, and your suggestions. It has been a challenging year, marked by changes and achievements. We come to its end with a good feeling of accomplishment. I think that about wraps it up. We hope you enjoy yet another fat and heavy issue of HCS-Manguinhos (our attempts at dieting have failed resoundingly!). Our sincere wishes for a happy holiday season and a gentler new year. Until our next issue!