We are pleased to announce that Prof. Ajay Goel from the Baylor University Medical Center (Dallas, TX, USA) has joined the Editorial Board of our open access journal, Non-Coding RNA (ISSN 2311-553X). Prof. Goel is an internationally recognized expert on the epigenetic basis of gastrointestinal cancers, and we firmly believe that his knowledge will be a valuable addition to our esteemed group of board members.

Prof. Goel graduated and completed his Ph.D. in Biophysics at Panjab University (Chandigarh, India). After this, Prof. Goel moved to the USA to continue his career as a postdoctoral researcher, first at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA, USA) and a few years later at the University of California San Diego (La Jolla, CA, USA). Currently, Prof. Goel is leading several research projects at the Baylor University Medical Center to unravel the genetics and epigenetic basis of gastrointestinal cancers.

Prof. Goel has a long-standing interest in understanding the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. One of the main objectives of his research is cancer prevention through the development of biomarkers for human cancers. Prof. Goel also has a great interest in the role of non-coding RNAs in cancer pathogenesis, as well as the potential application of microRNAs as molecular biomarkers. To date, his research concerning non-coding RNA has focused on developing non-invasive biomarkers for the early detection of gastrointestinal cancers, as well as markers useful as survival indicators and predictive biomarkers of response to various treatments in gastrointestinal cancers.

Prof. Goel believes that it is simply a matter of time before the growing and exciting role of non-coding RNAs enters an even more important stage of development—both in fundamental biological research, and the translation of these findings into clinical research.