HighWire Press is delighted to announce that Hugh Blackbourn has been appointed Senior Publication Manager, leading HighWire's customer support team based in the United Kingdom.

Hugh is an experienced publisher, having spent nearly 4 years as Head of Publishing for the Wellcome Trust, where he was responsible for all web and print publications profiling the Trust's activities. While there, he helped formulate the proposal that would become eLife, a researcher‐led digital publication to be hosted on HighWire later this year.

"I have been a HighWire fan for some time," said Hugh from his London office. "This is a wonderful opportunity to add my expertise to an organization focused on supporting and extending the reach and influence of research communication."

"I am absolutely thrilled to have someone so experienced ‐ and demonstrably successful ‐ in research, publishing, and business join the HighWire team," says Mark Johnson, HighWire's Director of Publisher Relations. "Hugh is going to be a tremendous resource for our clients in the UK and Europe."

Hugh is a biologist by training, with a PhD from Reading University followed by postdoctoral research at both Reading and Cambridge University. He left academia to become the launch Editor of Trends in Plant Science, and subsequently became the Managing Editor of a range of Trends titles.

Prior to working at the Wellcome Trust, Hugh was a publisher at Nature Publishing Group, where he led the Nature Reviews collection of journals (2004‐2007), launched Nature Protocols, and later led the Nature Life Sciences collection of journals (2007‐2008). In addition to his editorial and business development work, he obtained an MBA from The Open University in 2003.