To say we had a great time at BIO 2011 would be a huge understatement!

Just take a look at this recap:

At the December Innovative Technologies Breakfast at Delaware State University, we learned a lot about Crime Scene Investigations and some new tools that are being tested by law enforcement in Delaware.

The goals with the tools from Advanced Response Concepts are to provide a solid evidence chain for dectectives, including proper labelling and handling for samples that will later be separated with Thin Layer Chromatography.

Here’s Peter Schecter to explain how it works:

U.S. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware was presented with this year’s Medical Innovation Champion award by the Delaware Chapter of We Work for Health (WWFH) at Junior Achievement of Delaware (JA) in Wilmington on August 27. The award was furnished in conjunction with a WWFH roundtable discussion on the future of medical innovation in Delaware.

Senator Carper’s work has been of tremendous importance to the robust medical innovation industry in Delaware, and the workforce and economic support it provides. He has been a strong supporter of the innovators, helping ensure they are able to recoup their investments with the protection of data exclusivity rights in health care reform. He is an advocate and supporter of the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) and Delaware becoming the first state to roll out electronic health records statewide.

“Senator Carper has gone to bat for innovators here in Delaware and around the country,” said Frank Howard, WWFH Campaign Manager. “His leadership in health care reform was critical in keeping important research alive.”

Medical innovation leaders in Delaware held a roundtable discussion following the award covering several issues of importance to the continued support of medical innovation in Delaware. Topics covered included narrowing gaps in translation research so more lab discoveries make it to market; navigating current limitations on private investment; reforming the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory review process; and stimulating the cultivation of new innovators through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and other programs.

“Today’s gathering allowed for important discussions on what steps we need to be taking to support future innovators,” said JA President and WWFH Delaware Chapter Co-Chair Rob Eppes. “Here at Junior Achievement, we are doing our part to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders in medical innovation and research.”

Attendees were invited on a tour of JA’s Innovation Hub by Eppes. The Hub is a STEM career exploration zone within the JA World experiential learning center. Through virtual expeditions, students are able to explore local STEM career opportunities and the associated educational requirements. Preparations are underway for the Hub to host 2,700 students for the JA Innovation Hub Career and College Readiness Experience in late September.

Roundtable participants included representatives from: AIDS Delaware; Analtech, Inc.; Christiana Care Health System; Delaware AFL-CIO; Delaware Bioscience Association; Delaware Biotechnology Institute; Delaware Economic Development Office; Delaware Healthcare Commission; Delaware HIV Consortium; Delaware State University; Junior Achievement of Delaware; and Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers.

We Work for Health is a grassroots initiative that unites health consumers, biopharmaceutical company employees and retirees, vendors, suppliers and other business, academic and community partners to demonstrate how these diverse groups work together to improve America’s health care system and strengthen our economy.

Our friends at TheScientist.com recently published an interesting story about the efforts of Alan Alda to teach scientists how to communicate their research and discoveries to the world.

Here’s some excerpts:

“We need to talk to the public,” Alda says. “This is holding back the country, and it’s holding back the world from making progress on what we now know.” He encountered this failure to relate ideas repeatedly when he interviewed hundreds of the world’s top scientists about their discoveries for Scientific American Frontiers, a show that ran on public television from 1993-2005.

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For Alda the problem starts at the most basic level of communication. “The affect, facial expression body language — these are things that you wouldn’t think are part of a scientific presentation,” he says. “Emotion is so important. In scientific communication emotion is probably trained out of us, but there’s no reason why it can’t be included. Science is a great detective story, especially when you’re talking to the public. You want them to get involved in this interesting, emotional tangle.”

You can read the complete article here.

Here’s a look at the program Mr. Alda is running at The Center for Communicating Science:

A recent article from the Wilmington News Journal features the work of Analtech’s Micky Jones – designer of the “Scientist” Poken.

Here’s some excerpts:

Pokens, which come in a variety of character designs with outstretched palms, exchange an encrypted code when the palms touch. The platform plugs into your computer’s USB port to upload contact information including e-mails, photos, phone numbers and social-networking accounts.

Micky Jones, 25, expects the Poken to take off in this country as it has elsewhere. In March, he became the distributor for PokenPhilly.com, operating in an area that includes Delaware, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. A basic Poken costs $19.95, with no additional fees, he said. Information is updated to all contacts as changes such as new phone numbers or job addresses are made on the Poken account online.

“If a client moves, you’re going to be able to still get in touch with them because the information will change on your account. It’s just like Facebook,” said Jones, who works full time as creative director for Analtech Inc., a Newark company that specializes in chromatography, the separation of mixtures.

To read the complete article, click here.

To find out more about the Scientist Poken, click here.

Our friends at BioJobBlog recently posted a great piece on the use of videos by pharma companies – with a nice reference to our material.

Here’s some excerpts from the post:

According to Mark Senak, the unofficial life sciences company video archivist and author of the always insightful EyeonFDA blog, there are presently about 15 companies that have channels on YouTube; the largest video sharing website on the Internet.

There is no question that video is expensive to make if it is done commercially. However, Ken Grant at Analtech, a small chromatography company in Delaware, who has successfully used video to drive and improve business outcomes, contends that a low cost Flip video camera or equivalent is sufficient to get the job done! 

You can read the entire post by clicking here.

We made a lot of new friends at Pittcon 2010 – and strengthened our bond with older friends – through our new Pokens!

Here’s a look at just some of our friends who came to our booth for the big Poken Party!

UPDATE: We have an Evening location! – see below!

Pittcon 2009 featured the first ever Pittcon Tweet-Up – a great meeting of people with at least two things in common – science and social media.

We’re doing it again this year! Twice!

Pittcon 2010 Tweet-Up #1

WHERE: Hall C at the Convention Center – meet in front of FedEx/Kinkos

WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, 10:00 AM

Pittcon 2010 Tweet-Up #2 – some have suggested we set up a second Tweet Up in the evening – so we’re going to shoot for another meeting at 10:00 Tuesday evening – and we now have a location thanks to a great suggestion from @GCMSMS.

Pittcon Tweet Up #2

WHERE: Bahama Breeze – 8849 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

WHEN: Tuesday, March 2 – 10:00 PM

Now, we need your participation – if you plan on posting twitter updates from Pittcon – please post your twitter name here – and please use the #Pittcon hashtag.

We’re pretty excited about this – if you haven’t heard of Poken, go here for a quick explanation.

While Poken does a great job with offering some really fun and interesting designs, we wanted something that would be perfect for the science community, so our brilliant designer, Micky Jones, put this together:

Stop by Booth 1713 at Pittcon to see these guys in action!

We’ve always been a Delaware-based company, we love being a Delaware-based company. We enjoy our friends and neighbors, we like being located so close to places like Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Princeton, and New York.

But, we have to admit, heading to Orlando, Florida for Pittcon is starting to really look good to us right about now.

Come on by Booth 1713 at the Orange County Convention Center March 1 – 4 and say, “Hi” – we won’t be wearing winter coats then.