This month’s issue will be the last of 2010, as December will bring our annual CLP Buyer’s Guide your way. I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all of you—our readers and advertisers—happy and healthy holidays, since by the time this issue reaches your hands most of you will be starting to celebrate the season.

It also seems a good time to take a look back at the top stories of the year, as well as take a look ahead to emerging trends and topics for 2011. Without question, the H1N1 epidemic of last fall continued to dominate headlines, and news stories on that issue were consistently among the most frequently viewed on CLP‘s Web site. Fortunately, the severity of the epidemic never quite reached what had been feared, but as readers were reminded in our feature on H1N1 in CLP‘s annual respiratory virus supplement (September issue), the virus is expected to remain the dominant strain circulating in the United States for some years to come, and labs will continue to be called on to monitor the situation.

Our 2011 media kit, which includes the editorial calendar for the upcoming year, is now available online, and if you haven’t downloaded it yet, I urge you to do so. I welcome input from vendors on how their products fit into the features planned for the magazine and encourage you to send me your tip sheets or get in touch any time throughout the year. You’ll note a few new topics, including hepatitis testing, that have not previously been covered in the magazine.

Hepatitis C, in particular, is increasingly becoming recognized as an emerging threat. I was astounded to read on the CDC’s Web site recently that estimates of under-reporting of new cases have run to the tune of 20-fold. Clearly, this is a test that labs will be called on to perform more and more in the coming years, and vendors are stepping in with assays.

Another trend I heard over and over at AACC was the need for vendors to move beyond simply “selling product” and to offer full solutions in terms of workflow and project/information management. Although these solutions may technically be considered services rather than products, CLP is committed to covering them on a regular basis.

To stay on top of developments in the clinical lab space, bookmark this website.

One final note: if you haven’t yet met CLP‘s new associate editor, Chris Gaerig, feel free to introduce yourself at and by phone at (310) 642-4400 ext 341. As always, you can reach me at or call me at (858) 793-9533.

Best regards,

Suzanne Clancy, PhD
editor, CLP
(858) 793-9533