Shanghai in December.  Palm Springs in January.  Mumbai in February.  Orlando in March.  Virtual in May.  It’s a busy time for the Society!  SLAS is rapidly becoming a truly global organization both on-the-ground and in our virtual and print world.  About half the subscribers to JBS and JALA are from outside the U.S.  India has risen to the #2 readership position of LabAutopedia, the SLAS wiki.  And we’re not stopping there.  This fall SLAS will be involved in events in the U.K. (ELRIG), Switzerland (MIPTEC) and will host the SLAS Stem Cell Conference in Boston.   There is now an active SLAS China Linked-In community. 

Of course, the goal is and always will be to bring the best educational content to our membership and community.  That community is now global and the SLAS Strategic Plan clearly outlines the intent of the Society to address that global community.  Each part of the world will require a different approach, and SLAS has quite a range of options for delivering content. 

LabAutomation2011 in Palm Springs was a great success, with 4407 participants enjoying the bright desert sun while soaking up the conference program of 17 short courses, 100 podium presentations, 186 posters, 20 industry workshops and over 240 exhibiting companies.  Forty of the exhibitors were new to the event, showing that the field continues to grow and change.  The diversity of interests was highlighted by keynote presentations about nanotechnology, food science and applied genetics.  You can listen to podcasts from this years New Product Award winners:

• Cellasic – Pearl Microfluidic Hepatocyte Culture System

• Covaris, Inc. – LE220 Ultrasonicator

• Microsaic Systems Ltd – Microsaic 3500 MiD

Also on podcast we have the Student Poster Award Winner, Kelly Karns, University of California, Berkeley .  Her poster, "Human Tear Fluid-Based Point-of-Care Diagnostics Enabled by Integrated Microfluidic Systems" is available for viewing in LabAutopedia. 

SLAS sent a contingent of speakers to the ChemTECH 2011 conference in Mumbai, India, to address the growing drug discovery community in that country.  You can see a video of the groups welcome at the SLAS YouTube site and see some photos at the SLAS Facebook page. 

Later this month, SLAS will host the 17th Annual SBS Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, FL.  Listen to the podcasts of conversations with long-time SBS members Bob Hertzberg and Ricardo Macarron as they remember past events and explain why they return year after year. 

In May, we’ll reach out virtually to the world with a 4-part Virtual Course focused on ADMET.

Yes, it’s a busy time for the Society.  Pick the content conduit that suits you best and to paraphrase a term we heard in India, “breathe a bit of SLAS”! 

Until Next Time,

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto!