Professor Franco succeeds Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, who has been Editor-in-Chief since June 2017.

Professor Franco is a family doctor at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Vice-Chair of the Research Department at the Instituto Universitario Hospital Italiano (IUHI), where he is also Director of the Cochrane Associate Centre.

He is a professor at IUHI and Universidad Nacional de La Matanza, and editor for the Cochrane Urology Group and a member of Cochrane’s Governing Board.

Professor Franco said: “I think that BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine needs to be at the centre of discussions on how evidence feeds into healthcare decisions in this complex world of fake news and infodemic. Together with our editorial team, we plan to deliver the highest quality content with a strong focus on high-value and person-centred care."

Responding to the appointment, Dr Allison Lang, Publishing Director at BMJ, said: “Professor Franco shares our passion for supporting healthcare professionals in improving patient outcomes, and his expertise will bring relevant and stimulating content to the journal.”