September 13, 2006--After almost two years of planning and anticipation, the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists received notice that it has been awarded a government grant to launch a localized version of Lab Tests Online.

Andrew St John, Lab Tests Online project coordinator for AACB, was very pleased to provide the news. “It was a long wait, but we’re very happy to be able to move forward now at full speed.  The sooner we launch, the sooner we can help the AACC team.”

St John was referring to a recent user comment handled by AACC and ASCLS in which the user, who was from Australia, asked for the Australian names of several tests.

AACB will adapt the UK version of Lab Tests Online because of the similarities in language use.  According to St John, Bruce Campbell, a respected chemical pathologist from Queensland, has already been working through some of the UK content.   The next step will be to clone the UK site within the jointly licensed content management system so that Campbell and his editorial team can begin implementing the changes needed to localize the site.

AACB expects to launch the site next summer.

Lab Tests Online-AU is the eight version of the highly regarded Lab Tests Online to be announced.  The original site was launched in 2001 and averages close to 900,000 visitors per month.  The first localized adaptation, Lab Tests Online-UK, launched in mid-2004 and currently averages 124,000 visitors.  Sites in Spain, Italy, and Germany are expected to launch by the end of the year.