Society for Biomolecular Sciences and Association for Laboratory Automation set to come together later this year

Chicago, IL & Danbury, CT – For most of the past two years, the leaders of the Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) and the Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) have been strategizing a merger to unite their scientific societies as one inclusive organization – the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS). As of Wednesday, May 5, both memberships officially authorized the merger with more than 95% of the votes cast in favour.

SBS and ALA will now unite as individual sections of SLAS. The organizations say that each section will continue to pursue their current mission while collectively addressing the SLAS mission, which is to provide forums for education and information exchange to encourage the study of and improve the science and practice of laboratory automation and screening.

Under the SLAS umbrella, the SBS and ALA sections each will preserve SBS’s and ALA’s former identities and specialized educational pursuits. In addition, both will benefit from the expanded scope, international influence, and enhanced program and service offerings that the unified organization, SLAS, will provide.

Inaugural SLAS president Michelle Palmer, PhD, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, said “SLAS will become the premier international community dedicated to advancing scientific research and discovery through laboratory automation and screening technology.”