PDG HIGHLIGHT Applied Laboratory Methods PDG The mission of the Applied Laboratory Methods Professional Development Group (ALM PDG) is to provide a forum for the exchange and sharing of information related to the development and use of laboratory methods for the analysis of food and related commodities. The ALM PDG has more than 400 members and has traditionally been a leading PDG in submitting symposia and roundtable sessions for the IAFP Annual Meeting. This PDG holds at least two conference calls per year and at least one webinar to discuss methods of interest to the ALM PDG members as well as to the general membership. In the last two years, symposia, roundtables and workshops generated by members of this PDG have included topic such as: Lab detection of food safety hazards; how the homeostasis of the gut microbiome influences human health and disease; prokaryotic hibernators-persisters in foods; the complexity of antibiotic resistance; update on Campylobacter, multiplex foodborne pathogen detection assays; and update on norovirus. The recent topics for the webinar have included the methodology to detect Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli strains in flour. We invite you to become a member of this PDG and actively participate in helping us develop successful symposia and roundtable proposals for the IAFP Annual Meeting and provide new topics for future webinars. Omar A. Oyarzabal Chair, Applied Laboratory Methods PDG September/October Food Protection Trends 365