April 18, 2008

To celebrate 100 years of quality laboratory services to the people of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Community Health's Bureau of Laboratories is sponsoring "The Evolution of Public Health Laboratories" symposium. The event will be held on Monday, April 21, at 7 p.m. at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing and will feature nationally and internationally recognized public health experts to discuss a variety of topics.

The Bureau of Laboratories opened in 1907 when the Michigan Legislature funded one bacteriologist with a budget of $3,665. Since that time, the Bureau of Laboratories has been a pioneer in the science of public health.

Distinguished and invited guests at this event will include public health specialists and academics, health care providers and students of medicine, nursing, and laboratory sciences. An evening panel discussion titled "Meeting Future Challenges Facing Public Health: Multiple Perspectives" begins at 7 p.m. at the Kellogg Conference Center in East Lansing and is open to the public.

Panel participants include Bobby Pestronk, M.P.H., health officer of the Genesee County Health Department and president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials; Janet Olszewski, MSW, director of the Michigan Department of Community Health and secretary-treasurer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Frances P. Downes, Dr. P.H., director of the Bureau of Laboratories and president of the Association of Public Health Laboratories; Kenneth Warner, Ph.D. dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health; Ronald M. Davis, M.D, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Henry Ford Health Systems and president of the American Medical Association; and William D. Strampel, D.O., senior associate dean of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The event panel moderator will be Gretchen Millich, journalist, WKAR public radio.