GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY
	ACS to vote on new division At the August 2001 ACS National Meeting in Chicago, IL, board members are expected to vote in favor of creating a new ACS division focused on laboratory automation. The new division will stem from a partnership with the Lab Robotics Interest Group (LRIG; http://lab-robotics.org), a grassroots organization based out of Martinsville, NJ, which began 14 years ago as a topical group of the North Jersey section of the ACS. Dennis France of Novartis Oncology, executive chair of the LRIG Mid-Atlantic Chapter, says the idea to create a new division sprang from the increasing growth of and demand for robotics in areas such as high-throughput screening, drug discovery, and combinatorial chemistry. This partnership between LRIG and the ACS is not the first. “We would have joint meetings with the ACS, and the turnout would be disappointing,” says France. “We had all but given up on the ACS because of those failed meetings.” But a renewed dedication by Les McQuire of Novartis, former chair of the North Jersey section of the ACS, and other key players—namely Mark Hayward, chair-elect of the North Jersey MS group (Novartis); Bill Suits, current chair of the North Jersey section of the ACS division; and Alan Cooper (Schering-Plough)—persuaded France and his colleagues at LRIG to give ACS another try. Hayward, who pitched the renewed partnership to Divisional Activities Committee members at the 221st ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA, says that the merger will address unmet needs on both sides. “ACS had always had success with their national meetings but needed a way to have the same success on a local or regional level, which the LRIG could provide,” says Hayward. “By the same token, a merger with ACS gives the LRIG the ability to provide organized local service on a national plateau.” The LRIG currently has seven chapters under its umbrella: Mid-Atlantic, New England, Southeast, Bay Area, San Diego, Northwest, and European. The long-term vision for the new ACS Laboratory Automation Division is to run more productive meetings, increase member and vendor participation, and continue to provide researchers in the drug discovery/high-throughput screening market with cutting-edge instruments. “Since all of us are extremely busy scientists, we are trying to keep the infrastructure and processes simple,” says France, “because the day that it becomes cumbersome is the day that it may fall apart like a house of cards.” –Wilder Smith