A Message from the Editor

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the November/December issue. In the last issue, I encouraged all of you to take a moment and think about what you can do differently to optimize productivity and efficiency in your professional and personal lives. A new calendar year is right around the corner, ready to notch another mark for us above the waterline. Our ship has a bevy of New Year’s resolutions splashing at its hull. How do we forge ahead at the same pace while embracing new objectives?

In this issue, I share my exclusive interview with Dr. Udit Batra, Ph.D, the new president and CEO at EMD Millipore. He shares an abundance of insight with our readers into the direction being taken by the landmark company on the global front. In his advice to you, the reader, he captures his success with one of his favorite quotes by Louis Pasteur: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” While it may be possible to subscribe to the concept of destiny in many aspects of our lives, our professional development is certainly built upon a careful combination of preparation, practice, self-examination, and forward thinking.

Our November/December issue continues to encompass the theme of our rapidly expanding world. As we deal with endemic fears of viral contamination and bacteria, Dr. Bob Stevenson reflects on our personal and laboratory relationship with bacteria. Among this issue’s features, we learn from the experts about purge-and-trap  GC/MS technology for rapid environmental analyses from soil, and we receive valuable product purchasing insight into automated DNA sequencer technology.

On behalf of myself and the editorial staff at American Laboratory, I hope that you enjoy this issue. Best wishes for the upcoming holiday season, and as always, I look forward to hearing about your current and prospective research and work endeavors—in 2015!

Sincerely,


Emilia Raszkiewicz
American Laboratory
[email protected]