Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team

The Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team comprises experienced, full-time in-house scientific editors who work across Nature and the Nature Research journals, managing manuscripts throughout the editorial process. Established in January 2024 as a counterpart to the Reviews Cross-Journal Editorial Team, the group brings together expertise spanning the life, chemical, physical and environmental sciences, as well as engineering.

Cross-Journal Editors join individual journal teams for defined periods, providing editorial continuity during staffing changes and fluctuations in workload. As fully embedded members of their host journal teams, they take ownership of manuscripts throughout the editorial process while working closely with editorial colleagues and consulting on decisions where appropriate. Like all in-house editors, they exercise independent editorial judgement and are responsible for the manuscripts they handle.

By working across journals within their areas of expertise, Cross-Journal Editors combine deep subject knowledge with broad editorial experience and the ability to adapt to different scientific communities, journal scopes and editorial approaches. This flexible model strengthens resilience across the nature research journals ecosystem, supports continuity during periods of change, and facilitates the sharing of editorial knowledge and best practices across journal teams.

The Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team is an editorial group and does not operate a manuscript transfer service, advise authors on submission strategies, or recommend alternative journals for consideration. Editorial responsibility remains with individual journals, each of which operates independently and makes its own editorial decisions. Authors seeking guidance on journal suitability should consult the scope and submission information provided on the relevant journal websites.

Head of Team | Prateek Dongare, PhD, Springer Nature, Heidelberg, Germany
Dr. Prateek Dongare is a chemist and materials scientist specializing in catalysis and solar energy research. He began his editorial career at Springer Nature in 2018 as an Associate Editor at Communications Chemistry, moving to Nature Communications in 2019, where he advanced to Team Manager and became Chief Editor in 2023.
At Nature Communications, Prateek established and led the energy materials team, championing areas such as catalysis, electrochemical energy storage, and energy harvesting. He played a key role in expanding the journal’s scope, team, and reach within these research communities. Alongside his leadership, he handled a broad portfolio of submissions spanning photo- and electrocatalysis, materials for solar fuels, and batteries, managing thousands of manuscripts across chemistry, materials, and energy-related fields.
Prateek also completed a secondment with the nature journals publishing team, where he conducted market research and data analysis to help assess opportunities for new journals, ultimately supporting the launch of two new nature research journals. In January 2024, he moved into his current role, establishing and leading the Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team, where he manages a team that works flexibly across Nature and Nature Research Journals. As part of his role, he also handles submissions across several Nature Research Journals and contributes to cross-journal editorial strategy, workflows, and talent development.
Prateek holds a PhD in Chemistry from Memorial University, Canada, and completed postdoctoral research at Uppsala University, Sweden, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He remains active in the scientific community, regularly delivering editor-led workshops and talks at international conferences, advising researchers on publishing strategies, research communication, and navigating the editorial process.
E-mail: prateek.dongare#nature.com*
 

Life Sciences

Senior Editor: Michelle Badri​, PhD, Springer Nature, New York, USA 
Michelle obtained her PhD at New York University where she was co-mentored by Richard Bonneau and Martin J. Blaser. As part of her graduate studies, she developed and benchmarked bioinformatic methods to model interactions at the host–microbiome interface. After her PhD she worked as a computational biologist in the pharmaceutical industry where she led data analysis for preclinical development of microbiome therapeutics. Michelle joined Nature Biotechnology in March 2024 as a Locum Associate Editor where she managed submissions in computational biology. Michelle joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in December 2024.
E-mail: michelle.badri#us.nature.com*

Senior Editor: Michelle Korda, PhD, Springer Nature, London, UK
Michelle managed advanced therapy clinical trials at University College London (UCL) and ran a stratified medicine consortium and clinical trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis at Queen Mary University of London. Her expertise encompasses advanced-therapy clinical trials and in vivo and in vitro models for bone-defect healing. Michelle obtained a PhD in biomedical engineering from UCL in 2007, focusing on stem cells’ regenerative capabilities around revision hip implants. Michelle started her editorial career at Nature Biomedical Engineering as part of its launching team in May 2016. In her role, she managed a broad spectrum of submissions, with a focus on medical devices and tissue engineering. Michelle brings a wealth of experience and an understanding of cutting-edge biomedical research to her role. Michelle joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in January 2024.
E-mail: michelle.korda#nature.com*

Associate Editor: Aparna Anantharaman, PhD, Springer Nature, Philadelphia, USA, ORCiD 
Aparna Anantharaman earned her Ph.D. in Bioscience at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, India, where she de novo designed, synthesized, and tested antibiotic peptides against pathogenic bacteria. She later moved to the United States, where she held multiple postdoctoral positions in gene regulation and RNA biology. She transitioned to research publishing in 2023, first as Managing Editor and then as Publisher for the npj Series. Aparna serves in a joint appointment with Nature Methods and the Research Cross-Journal team.
E-mail: aparna.anantharaman#us.nature.com*

Associate Editor: Cong Zhao, PhD, Springer Nature, Shanghai, China
Cong received her PhD from Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where she studied the role of histone demethylase in cardiovascular development and disease. After completing her PhD, she joined Elsevier as a scientific handling editor and an ecosystem managing editor, where she oversaw editorial workflows and coordinated article transfers across multiple journals and portfolios. Her broad research background spans molecular and cell biology, with expertise in epigenetics, signal transduction, autophagy, embryonic development, stem cells, and disease models. She is dedicated to advancing biomedical research by supporting the scientific community in the dissemination of high-quality science. Cong joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team in September 2025.
E-mail: cong.zhao#nature.com*
 

Physical Sciences

Senior Editor: Bishwanath Gaire​, PhD, Springer Nature, New Jersey, USA, ORCiD
Bishwanath has a Master of Science degree in plasma physics from Tribhuvan University. He obtained a PhD in physics from Kansas State University. His doctoral research was on laser induced molecular fragmentation using coincidence momentum imaging technique. He then continued research as a postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in a team of international collaborators working on light-matter interaction using X-rays.
He joined Nature Communications in 2016 as an Associate Editor handling manuscripts in nuclear, atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics. He joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in March 2024 and is based in the Jersey City office.
E-mail: bishwanath.gaire#us.nature.com*

Associate Editor: Joel Cejas Sánchez, PhD, Springer Nature, Berlin, Germany 
Joel received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Warsaw and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, as part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Program. With an academic background in organic chemistry, polymers, and catalysis, his dissertation was focused on the immobilization of ruthenium complexes in macromolecular supports (such as dendrimers and Metal-Organic Frameworks) for the development of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Joel joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in May 2025.
E-mail: joel.cejassanchez#nature.com*
 

Associate Editor: Saunak Das, Dr. rer. nat., Springer Nature, Heidelberg, Germany, ORCiD 
Saunak Das studied chemistry at the Vellore Institute of Technology in India before completing his Dr. rer. nat. at the University of Jena, Germany, where he investigated noncovalent interactions in fullerenes for hybrid solar cells. He then continued his research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and later expanded his expertise in advanced optical and X-ray spectroscopy on self-assembled monolayers and molecular electronics during his postdoctoral work at Heidelberg University and as a visiting scientist at the BESSY II synchrotron in Berlin. Most recently, Saunak was a project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, where he explored optoionic processes in carbon nitrides and, in collaboration with the Saliba group at the University of Stuttgart, investigated interfacial charge transfer processes in perovskite solar cells.
E-mail: saunak.das#nature.com*
 

Earth, Environment, and social sciences

Associate Editor: Camilla Brunello, PhD, Springer Nature, Berlin, Germany, ORCiD 
Camilla holds an academic background that encompasses evolutionary biology, earth science, and climate science. She earned her Ph.D. in Physical Geography and Geomorphology from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. Following this, she held postdoctoral positions at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Her research primarily focused on the water cycle's evolution over time. She delved into past hydroclimatic variability by studying the key factors affecting precipitation isotopes and the mechanisms that transfer climatic signals into geological records. Camilla joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in April 2024.
E-mail: camilla.brunello#nature.com*

Associate Editor: Wen Liu, PhD, Springer Nature, Shanghai, China
Wen is an interdisciplinary social scientist with PhD training in environmental and resource economics. She earned her PhD in food and resource economics from the University of Florida, where her research focused on labour economics, immigration policy, and agricultural sustainability. Her work integrates econometric modelling and policy analysis to examine the socio-economic drivers of environmental technology adoption and labour market dynamics.
Wen also holds two master’s degrees: one in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Tennessee and another in soil and water science from China Agricultural University. She joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team in February 2026.
E-mail: wen.liu#nature.com*

Associate Editor: Inge Wiekenkamp, PhD, Springer Nature, Berlin, Germany, ORCiD 
Inge received her PhD in hydrology from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, while carrying out her doctoral research at the Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. Her research focused on the impacts of deforestation on hydrological processes. Her work integrated environmental observations and modelling to advance understanding of water movement and ecosystem functioning in terrestrial systems. Afterwards, she worked at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, focusing on ecosystem-atmosphere interactions in peatlands, using airborne eddy covariance data from drones and small aircrafts. Within the broad field of Earth system science, her research background encompasses (eco)hydrology, biogeosciences, atmospheric science, hydrogeophysics, and environmental modelling. Inge joined the Research Cross-Journal Editorial team in September 2026.
E-mail: inge.wiekenkamp#nature.com*

Associate Editor: Shuai Yang, PhD, Springer Nature, Beijing, China
Shuai has an academic background in biogeochemistry, climate change ecology, and hydrology. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Peking University, China, where he investigated water-food-carbon interactions under climate change and anthropogenic activities. After completing his Ph.D., he worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States as a postdoctoral researcher. His work focused on methane cycling, carbon dynamics, and causal inference analysis. He joined the Cross-Journal Editorial team in November 2025.
​E-mail: shuai.yang#nature.com*

 

Technical Editor

Senior Technical Editor: Georgia Tsoukala, PhD, Springer Nature, London, UK
Georgia earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from The School of Pharmacy, University of London (now UCL School of Pharmacy), where her research focused on designing and synthesizing carbohydrate-based compounds with potential anticancer properties. Following a brief period as a medicinal chemist at the drug discovery and development company Evotec (UK), she joined the Nature Publishing Group. In her role as a Technical Editor, Georgia contributed to semantic enrichment projects and the creation of chemical compound information pages. Her responsibilities have since expanded to include assisting editors in the preparation of figures containing chemical structures.
E-mail: g.tsoukala#nature.com*

Alumni

We are grateful to former members of the Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team for their contributions to the development of the team and the journals they have supported.

George Inglis – 2024-25 (currently Team Manager at Communications Biology)

Jean Nakhle – 2024-25 (currently Senior Editor at Nature Metabolism)

Xinru Li - 2024-25 (currently Senior Editor at Nature Energy)

Heejung Jung – 2025 (currently Associate Editor at Nature Water)

Qingzhong Ren – 2025-26 (currently Senior Editor at Nature Neuroscience)