Viatcheslav Wlassoff, PhD, is a pharmaceutical and genetics researcher. Working at several leading academic institutions around the globe including the University of Cambridge and Japan’s National Institute of Genetics, Dr. Wlassoff amassed an extensive publication history in the medical sciences. In a series of sagacious articles for Brain Blogger, he questioned whether Parkinson’s disease is a single entity, established a link between sleep and obesity, and decoded the genes instilling creativity. As of January 2015, Dr. Wlassoff serves as the new section editor of Neuroscience & Neurology for Brain Blogger. Here, I interview him regarding this undertaking.

Lakhan: What is your favorite quote?

Wlassoff:

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? – Albert Einstein

Lakhan: What drew you to medical journalism?

Wlassoff: Every month, hundreds of new articles on neuroscience get published in scientific journals. Even professional researchers have no possibility to check them all, let alone to study them in-depth. As a scientific consultant, I often see clients who are unaware of novel scientific discoveries and developments in their research fields. To be in a position to help them, I must be well informed. Medical journalism offers a nice venue for both self-education and informing other people on what’s going on in the science labs around the world.

Lakhan: Among your articles on Brain Blogger, which is your favorite and why?

Wlassoff: I like my recent article on the link between high IQ and mental disorders. This connection is something that was suspected for very long time but too elusive to prove. Even with statistical link now clearly demonstrated, we still can’t be sure what are the actual mechanisms that connect high intelligence and higher risk of mental problems, and what are the social consequences of such connection. This is a good example of how little we still know about our brain and how much we still have to learn.

Lakhan: As section editor of Neuroscience & Neurology, what do you aim to accomplish? What should readers look forward to under your editorship?

Wlassoff: As editor of Neuroscience & Neurology section, I’ll aim to connect the readers with cutting-edge scientific developments in these fields of research. I’ll select and present the topics that appear to have the highest impact on both research in neuroscience and practical/clinical aspects related to the treatment and management of neurological disorders. Our understanding of brain and its function is still in the infancy. For me, this is an exciting aspect of neuroscience – every new discovery has a potential of revolutionizing our understanding of human brain. During the last decade we have witnessed a complete overhaul of our views on major neurodegenerative disorders, brain evolution and memory formation and storage. It will be safe to say that now, when we have better knowledge and technical abilities to decipher the brain’s mysteries, new discoveries in neuroscience will become even more frequent.

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