London, 23 October 2008 – BMJ Journals today announces the launch of a major new cardiology journal—Heart Asia—designed to showcase the finest research and practice from the Asia-Pacific region. The journal is the result of a collaboration between BMJ Journals, the British Cardiovascular Society and the Asia Pacific Heart Association.

It will be the first cardiology journal in the Asia Pacific region by a major medical publisher and marks an important milestone in the development of cardiovascular medicine in the region.

Heart Asia will be launched at the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology in Beijing today.

Dr Michael Lim, Editor in Chief of Heart Asia said:

“Heart Asia will be the first journal to provide a focus for research from this region, giving our authors the international exposure that they deserve. There are many exciting developments in cardiology that originate from within Asian-Pacific countries.

The sheer volume of cases in some of our larger centres provides invaluable data on the effectiveness of various interventions. Japanese cardiologists are amongst the best in the world at opening complete occlusions of the coronary artery, and in Taiwan they are known for their progressive work in electrophysiology.”

“The launch of Heart Asia will provide doctors in China with a platform to publish their original research data and it is an important bridge that will allow Chinese cardiologists to integrate with the international cardiology community”, commented Professor Hu Dayi, Chief of the Heart Centre at Peking University’s People’s Hospital, Beijing.

“Leading cardiology centres in the Asia Pacific region do some of the finest research in the world and the launch of Heart Asia is timely as it will allow top class research papers to be published in an Asia Pacific cardiology journal”, said Professor Ruey Jen Sung, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.

“The publication of a premier cardiology journal, Heart Asia, by BMJ Group is a significant step forward and it will become the preferred journal of choice for much of the original research in the Asia Pacific region”, added Professor Vinay K Bahl, Chief of Cardiology at the All India Medical Institute.

Janet O’Flaherty, Publisher of BMJ Journals said:

“Our collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Heart Association is an opportunity for us to create a major new online resource for cardiologists. Heart Asia will be available on the HighWire Press platform—one of the most advanced online environments there is for journal content, and one that will ensure a high level of visibility for each and every article published.

We will also look to develop links with Heart, which we publish in association with the British Cardiovascular Society. We can now ensure that the cardiology community is able to benefit from access to the best research articles, from all regions of the world.”

Heart Asia is an online only journal operating under a continuous publication model—that is, each individual article will be released online as soon as it is ready for publication. Articles will be available in both English and Mandarin.

For more information please visit: heartasia.bmj.com