By S. Terence Dunn, PhD Chair, Publications Committee e-mail: terence-dunn@ouhsc.edu

ADVANCE Update
One of the roles of the Publications Committee is to coordinate and review submission of “Molecular Edge” articles to the bimonthly ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory. These articles are authored by various AMP members and cover topics that are of interest to laboratory and hospital administrators. Each article is about 1000 words and covers a “molecular” topic – sometimes detailing administrative concerns, such as technologist training or quality control within the molecular laboratory, or a type of specialized testing, or innovative molecular-based technologies -- that would be of general interest. This is one way for us, as laboratorians, to explain the uniqueness of the molecular laboratory and the increasing importance of molecular testing overall to the practice of laboratory medicine. Authors are identified and topics are prioritized by the Committee for potential future publications in ADVANCE. The Committee also reviews each submission in addition to a separate review being performed by the Editor of the magazine. We would like to hear from the membership regarding potential topics that might be appropriate for up-coming editions of “Molecular Edge”. Please send your suggestions to terry-dunn@ouhsc.edu. The recently published and prospective titles and authors for “Molecular Edge” articles are:

July & September 2008 issues
Validating Laboratory Developed Tests:  Lessons from Molecular Pathology (Parts 1 and 2) by Peggy Gulley

November, 2008 issue
The Impact Of Pharmacogenetics/Pharmacogenomics On Warfarin Dosing by Mary Lowery Nordberg

January, 2009 issue
Training of Technical Personnel for Molecular Testing by Jeanne Carr

March, 2009 issue
Competency Testing for Molecular Technologists by Jeanne Carr

May, 2009 issue
Tissue Identity Testing in Anatomic Pathology by Marina Nikiforova

July, 2009 issue
Pharmacogenetics: Chemotherapeutics by Mary Lowery Nordberg

September, 2009 issue
Convincing administration to Fund New Technologies by Debs Payne

November, 2009 issue
Microsatellite Instability Testing by Jennifer Hunt

AMP Newsletter
Initial feedback from AMP members on the new electronic version of the AMP Newsletter, which was launched earlier this year, has been generally very positive and most members seem to have enjoyed the new format.  We realize that some members will miss the old hard-copy Newsletter and may be slow to read the electronic version but hopefully we can make some converts in the long-run.  Terry and Marlene certainly indicate that their job of compiling and formatting reports from the various AMP Committees and other items for the e-Newsletter has been improved immensely.

Web Editorial Board Update
The Web Editorial Board is reviewing the current AMP website to correct outdated content and improve navigation.  A more comprehensive report is provided by Mary Lowery-Nordberg in this current edition of the Newsletter. If anyone has suggestions for improving the AMP website or discovers problems (missing links, out-dated information, etc.), please notify Mary Lowery Nordberg (MLower@lsuhsc), with a copy to Mary Williams (mwilliams@amp.org).

Web Library
Remember to check-out the latest postings to the Web Library which includes many presentations from the Annual Meeting at Grapevine. As usual, Kathleen Murphy is always willing to receive other slide presentations for posting to the Web Library that would be of educational value to our membership; so, if you have some slide sets that you would like to share, please contact her at kmurphy4@jhmi.edu.

Test Directory
Alexis Carter, our Test Directory Editor, reported that she has generated a project plan for overhaul of the tabulated data in the back-end of the Test Directory, to be completed in 2009.  This will enable easy addition of new test information and will clean-up out-dated and inconsistent data. 

JMD
Karen Kaul, the Editor-in-Chief for JMD, communicated to the Committee that submissions to JMD are ahead of where they were this time last year.  As most of you are aware, there is an active search underway for a new Editor-in-Chief for JMD. Applications were due February 1, 2009. The successful candidate will be responsible for directing the editorial vision of JMD and ensuring the continued success that it has enjoyed as the leading publication in the field of molecular diagnostics under Karen’s oversight. The successful candidate will assume the position in January 2010.

CHAMP
Shuji Ogino and Qiulu Pan, our moderators for CHAMP, indicate that the listserv is working smoothly.  Further information can be found in the CHAMP report in the current edition of the Newsletter.