Key Take-A-Ways
- SPLASH!® milk science update is a bimonthly e-newsletter that highlights notable scientific articles on milk science, the dairy industry, and nutrition.
- SPLASH!® was accessed from every major city in the world and remains an important draw for visitors to the International Milk Genomics Consortium (IMGC) website.
- Website visitor data show that many users access SPLASH!® via Facebook, and the e-newsletter plans to develop strategies to increase access through social media.
Objective:
To produce an e-newsletter with content mirrored on the International Milk Genomics Consortium (IMGC) website to highlight emerging research trends in the scientific research literature; to translate the content of those articles for the non-expert; and to generate fresh content for the IMGC website, and monitor uptake by industry representatives and scientists.
Background, Findings, and Outcomes:
The rapid pace of scientific progress makes it challenging to keep up with the most recent topics in milk science and human health. In 2020, more than 20,000 new scientific articles were published and indexed with the keyword “milk” in the major medical and agricultural databases.
SPLASH!® milk science update provided a bimonthly e-newsletter of compelling short pieces that translated findings from notable scientific articles into engaging and accessible pieces for a non-expert audience. This type of science communication is essential for bridging the gap between researchers, industry, and the general public.
The IMGC mirrored the content and provided an archive, thus increasing traffic to its website. Analysis of website visitor data demonstrates that SPLASH!® was a major draw for visitors to the IMGC website in 2020, with over 156,500 page views, and 89% of IMGC website visitors accessing SPLASH!® articles. SPLASH!® was accessed from five continents and from every major city in the world. SPLASH!® is read not only by IMGC members and the established SPLASH!® professional network, but also by non-IMGC members and the general public.
In 2020, SPLASH!® became bimonthly and produced 24 pieces covering emerging topics in milk sciences, the dairy industry, and nutrition. The 2020 e-newsletters brought attention to how human milk oligosaccharides can influence bone biology, how COVID-19-positive mothers pass on neutralizing antibodies in milk, how California’s dairy industry is becoming more environmentally friendly, and how yogurt consumption can reduce mortality in women.
2020 IMGC Symposium
The annual IMGC conference brought together international experts in lactation, milk science, chemistry, microbiology, immunology, nutrition, genomics, anthropology, and bioinformatics. Participants discussed and shared outcomes and implications of the latest discoveries in scientific research on lactation, milk, and dairy for human health.
The 2020 virtual symposium was attended by 277 individuals from all over the world. The program was livestreamed and included an interactive Q&A, live chat rooms, social mixers, games, prizes, and more.