Lab Link relaunches with new look and schedule
Now with a revamped look and refined focus, Lab Link includes resources and stories about the many ways SHL is serving Iowa and leveraging its long history and deep expertise to monitor and report on emerging risks to human health and safety, according to SHL Director Mike Pentella. The newsletter will also tout the lab’s support of research and scholarship through collaborations with University of Iowa faculty.
“We know people are inundated with information, so we want to make sure our newsletter is interesting, brief, and—above all—relevant to our audiences,” Pentella said.
Subscribers to the original Lab Link will be automatically subscribed. Those who don’t subscribe but would like to can click here to sign up.
The updated newsletter was redesigned with the help of Modei Akyea and Leslie Revaux in the Office of the Vice President for Research.
“Along with our Facebook page and Website, which is undergoing a long overdue update, we want to be sure our stakeholders and partners have the full picture of how the State Hygienic Lab works to inform and protect our state and our communities,” Pentella said.
A leader in protecting Iowa’s environment and public health since 1904, SHL serves all of the state’s 99 counties through disease detection, environmental monitoring, and newborn and maternal screening.
For example, as an Environmental Protection Agency-certified facility, the Hygienic Laboratory conducts testing of drinking water as mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The staff also works with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to monitor waterways throughout the state for contaminants and to assess air quality in real-time and through lab testing. As a member of CDC’s PulseNet laboratory system, SHL sequences foodborne pathogens to determine if patients are infected with the same strains and contaminated food products can be removed from the marketplace.
The lab provides potentially life-saving newborn screening for every child born in Iowa as the laboratory designated by the Iowa Department of Public Health through the Center for Congenital and Inherited Disorders. This highly specialized screening also is provided for babies born in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alaska.
SHL is located in the UI Research Park in Coralville, the Iowa Laboratory Facilities in Ankeny, and the Lakeside Laboratory in Iowa’s Great Lakes Region.
