Emory's Health Sciences Communications office recently launched Lab Land, a blog highlighting tidbits about biomedical research at Emory.

The blog covers a wide range of topics, according to Emory science writer/blogger Quinn Eastman, who says Lab Land's focus is "explaining the world of neurons, viruses, DNA, and antibodies as well as how Emory research advances into the clinic."

Lab Land is designed to reach journalists and anyone else interested in biology or medicine. Science communications experts and some of Emory's peer research institutions have turned to blogs as an alternative to news releases, which are typically longer format and focus on announcements and breaking news.

Press releases are not disappearing, but this is a different way to publicize research papers," says Eastman. "We can make note of national trends and explain how the work of Emory researchers fits into those trends or takes a different path. We can tell stories that wouldn't fit a press release format and wouldn't otherwise get told.

"With the blog, we can chime in on conversations that are taking place nationally and internationally," he adds.

As part of a group of Emory blogs, Lab Land joins eScience Commons, a university science blog, and Spirited Thinking, a religion blog.

Quinn Eastman

"The media landscape for science journalism has been transformed over the past few years," Eastman says. "Many science-oriented blogs have emerged, often under the umbrella of respected national magazines. We want to reach the same audiences."

Lab Land has a minimum of two regular monthly features and incorporates images, videos, and explanations of scientific terms or concepts of current interest, such as "optogenetics" or "default mode network."

You can subscribe to this blog via email updates or RSS feed at Lab Land. Eastman plans to expand on the "Leave a comment" component to include guest posts/contributors. Please check out the blog, and join the conversation.

If you have an idea for a Lab Land blog post, please contact Eastman.