Award Highlights SLAS and IFT Synergies Between Food Science, Laboratory Automation and Screening

For the first time, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is pleased to partner with the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) and identify a recipient of the SLAS Young Scientists Poster Award at the 2010 IFT Annual Meeting Scientific Program July 17-20, 2010 in Chicago, Ill. The Award is intended to highlight student research involving the impact of food science on the science and technologies of laboratory automation and screening such as micro/ nanotechnologies, detection and separation, high-throughput screening, and/or informatics.

The winner of this year’s award is Rosalee S. Rasmussen Hellberg from Oregon State University, in Astoria, Ore. for her research “Development of a multiplex PCR assay for the identification of commercial salmon and trout species (Oncorhynchus and Salmon) in North America.”

“IFT is very appreciative of SLAS for its sponsorship of the Young Scientists Poster Award, emphasizing our shared commitment to students and young professionals in food science and technology,” said IFT Executive Vice President Barbara Byrd Keenan. “The food science profession is rapidly evolving and faces new challenges and opportunities every day. Awards such as this allow organizations like IFT and SLAS to recognize the innovative research by young scientists on the path to making positive and important contributions to the world’s food supply.”

As the winner of the SLAS Young Scientists Poster Award at the IFT Annual Meeting Scientific Program, Rasmussen receives $500(USD) and will be featured in SLAS’ peer-reviewed scientific journal: Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation (JALA). Additionally, she will present her scientific poster at SLAS’ annual conference and exhibition LabAutomation2011, January 29 – February 2, 2011, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, Calif.

According to SLAS President Michelle Palmer, Ph.D., by expanding its partnership with IFT to include the SLAS Young Scientists Poster Award, SLAS increases its efforts to advance its educational mission and fulfill its strategic initiatives of cultivating student involvement across multiple industries.

“In continuing to collaborate with IFT, we are advancing the educational missions of each organization and inspiring support for students involved in food science and with laboratory sciences,” said Palmer. “We take great pride in these enhanced initiatives that aim to recognize and promote the exceptional research of young scientists.”

For more information about IFT visit www.ift.org. To learn more about SLAS visit www.sbs-alamerger.org.

Source: Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening