Editorial

2006 was a busy year for the journal; submissions of new articles were up by around 50% from the previous year, the journal moved to five issues per year and there were new faces on the editorial panel. CLAE introduced one article per issue with CET points and intends to continue with that in 2007. To ensure the quality of review articles CLAE has appointed Dr. Michel Guillon as its reviews editor, his remit will be to seek review articles that will be of particular clinical relevance to the readership. Dr. Guillon has been on the editorial panel of CLAE for many years and is amongst the highest published experts in the field of contact lenses, his work will be known to many readers including being co-inventor of the Keeler Tearscope. The journal will continue to appeal to academics and researchers in the field of contact lenses and anterior eye by attracting new and original work. Authors of papers published in CLAE are rewarded with short turn around times for their work. On average the papers are published on the web in their final format in around 5 months, and in the printed issue a few weeks after that. CLAE aims to widen its international appeal in 2007 and has appointed Dr. Pauline Cho to act as regional editor. Dr. Cho has been an editorial panel member for many years and has a particular interest in contact lenses, myopia and orthokeratology. She will help to grow the journal in the Asia-Pacific area and liaise with potential authors in Asia and Australasia in particular. Future plans for the CLAE include a possibility of moving to six issues in 2008 and applying for an impact factor, but more on that in the future.

This issue of CLAE contains some great articles that will appeal to all readers. There is a great paper discussing the use of silicone hydrogel contact lenses for daily use. Richard Pearson (former editor-in-chief of CLAE) has a paper detailing Karl Otto Himmler's contribution to contact lens manufacture. There are papers on orthokeratology, fitting therapies for keratoconus, fitting contact lenses after a penetrating corneal injury, and there is an interesting study from Waterloo comparing traditional grading to objective measures.

Finally, I would like to add my personal tribute to Ron Loveridge. The contact lens community was shocked to hear of his sudden passing in November 2006. Ron was a great supporter of CLAE, IACLE and the BCLA. In fact he was president the year I became a BCLA member, so it was a particularly proud moment for me to be stood next to him in the official photograph of new BCLA fellows at the 2006 BCLA clinical conference. I was due to meet him the week after he passed away. He was one of the nicest people in the industry, a real pioneer in the field (CLAE will publish a tribute article detailing his contributions to the field of contact lenses later in the year), but he will probably be most remembered for his humble manner, which was almost a trademark. He was loved and respected by everyone who knew him. Many organisations, including the BCLA, are discussing ways of honouring his memory.