We are happy to introduce Professor Tomasz Stompór as a new associate editor in Polish Archives of Internal Medicine (Pol Arch Intern Med). Professor Stompór from the University of Warmia and Mazury, who started his academic career at the Jagiellonian University Medical College, is an eminent nephrologist whose scientific interests are focused on end-stage renal disease and its complications and the management including kidney transplantation. His curriculum vitae is presented on the next page.

Since May 2021, the role of Professor Stompór will be to keep a high rate of rejections at 3 days after submission and demonstrate respect for reviewers’ valuable time. A proper and rapid distribution of manuscripts between Professor Grzegorz Gajos and Professor Tomasz Stompór is needed given a rising number of submissions in 2020. However, to identify papers deemed to be a suitable fit for Pol Arch Intern Med among submissions appearing in the editorial system each day, the 2 editors with different academic experiences can support the first stage of evaluation. Our goals are to invest in authors with interesting ideas, allocate more time to increasing our international reviewers pool, and provide detailed feedback for authors to make the manuscripts substantially better. There are more time-consuming tasks and more expertise is necessary to maintain the momentum of Pol Arch Intern Med.

After long discussions, our growing team has plans and expect to see novel initiatives and digital strategies in collaboration with our scientific boards. We are very excited about the upcoming launch, and we hope all our authors, reviewers, and readers are too.

Our predicted impact factor for 2020 is 3.15 which denotes that Pol Arch Intern Med managed to maintain its standing as an internal medicine journal with impact factor above 3.0.

Awaiting June 2021 and the announcement of the latest impact factors, the new editor is very welcome to ensure the highest quality of the accepted full-length manuscripts being the backbone of our journal, minimize the review and publication time, and increase the journal’s visibility.

A journal must advance, or it will lag behind. Any suggestions on improving the journal would be greatly appreciated. The editorial board, supported by the Pol Arch Intern Med staff, are looking forward to serving clinicians interested in a broad range of topics encompassing internal medicine.

Professor Tomasz Stompór

Professor Tomasz Stompór (Figure 1) was born in Kraków, Poland, where he also graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in 1992. From 1993 to 2009, he worked at the Division and Department of Nephrology, Jagiellonian University Medical College in Kraków (as an assistant, senior assistant, associate professor, and associate professor with a postdoctoral degree). During that period, he became a specialist in internal medicine, nephrology, and hypertensiology, received his PhD degree (1982), and was appointed associate professor of medicine (2004). In 2009, he became chair of the Department of Nephrology, Hypertension and Internal Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. Already during his employment at University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and Regional Specialist Hospital in Olsztyn, he became a specialist in transplantology. He is a cofounder of the Kidney Transplantation Center in Olsztyn, which was established in 2010.

Figure 1. Professor Tomasz Stompór in October 2017 (photo by Janusz Pająk, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn)

He received full professorship in 2014 (proceedings conducted at Jagiellonian University).

He served 2 consecutive terms (2012–2019) as vice dean for science at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. Since 2021, he has served as chair of the Division of Internal Medicine. He was involved in the creation of the newly established medical faculty in Olsztyn, working on curricula in internal medicine, clinical transplantology, evidence-based medicine, pathophysiology, medical ethics, and others. He also chairs the Bioethical Committee at the Warmia and Mazury Medical Chamber in Olsztyn.

The main scientific and professional interests of Professor Tomasz Stompór include: nutritional status in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), dialysis adequacy, chronic inflammation in uremia, atherosclerosis and pathologic calcifications in CKD, mineral and bone disorders in CKD, pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis, renal involvement in monoclonal gammopathies, nephrocardiology, nephrodiabetology, and biomarkers in kidney disease.

His scientific contributions include more than 250 publications and more than 80 chapters in monographs and textbooks on nephrology, hypertensiology, internal medicine, and geriatrics, including chapters in the Interna Szczeklika textbook. In 2021, he became the managing editor of the “Nephrology” section in Interna Szczeklika. He has been part of the Editorial Board of Polish Archives of Internal Medicine since 2015. He was honored by the Polish Society of Internal Medicine with a statuette and 3 diplomas of recognition for his contribution to the development of the journal. He is also subject editor for nephrology in Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (impact factor, 3.687). He is a member of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association / European Renal Association and the Polish Society of Nephrology. He has also been a member of the Board of the Polish Society of Nephrology in terms 2010–2013, 2013–2016, and 2019–2022 and a member of the Audit Committee of the Polish Society of Nephrology (2016–2019). He received a scholarship from the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (North Staffordshire Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom). He was also a visiting professor at Long Island College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York, in years 2006, 2008, and 2010. He is a supervisor of 7 doctoral theses, regular reviewer of numerous journals included in the Journal Citation Reports, reviewer in the proceedings for the doctoral degree, postdoctoral degree, and the title of full professor, and recipient of individual and team awards for scientific achievements from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science.

His nonmedical interests include: music (mainly blues, blues-rock, jazz-rock, and progressive rock), history of World War II, wildlife and history of Warmia, literature, skiing, and long-distance running.