Dear Colleagues and Friends –

We write to you in these challenging times as day-to-day changes surrounding COVID-19 are affecting your families and research communities.

Your health and safety are incredibly important. You are the heart of our research community and we are concerned about your wellbeing. We know that this is a time of anxiety, exacerbated by the unknowns and our usual expectations of scholarly production and critical research functions. Many within our community are under a great deal of stress as they tackle the challenges of remote work, lab curtailments and restrictions on travel.

We encourage you all to stay in close touch with your research teams and staff for continuity planning and wellness support. It is important to reassure your teams that we will get through this and discussions are ongoing to help all of us to cope with delays in important timelines and milestones (e.g., student milestones and degrees, publications, promotions, job searches, etc.).

MPMI journal will continue to receive, review and publish manuscripts. We understand the constraints placed on authors and reviewers by factors beyond our control. We are available to work with our authors and reviewers on timelines, providing extensions on reviews and resubmissions as needed.

We wish you all the best moving forward as you take care of protecting the health of your family, colleagues, and neighbors.

Sincerely,

Mary Beth Mudgett                Jeanne Harris

IS-MPMI President                Editor-in-Chief MPMI