NEWS RELEASE
July 13, 1999

Department of Community Health Announces Downes New Director of Bureau of Laboratories

Michigan Department of Community Health Director, James K. Haveman, Jr., today announced Frances Pouch Downes will serve as the Department's new Director of the Bureau of Laboratories.

"I am pleased to announce that Frances Pouch Downes has been named Director of Laboratories," said Haveman. "The laboratories are a fundamental part of the active commitment the Department of Community Health has to public health safety."

The laboratories runs approximately one million tests a year. Testing conducted at the laboratories include newborn screening tests for 7 disorders that if left undetected could cause severe disabilities or death, screening for lead poisoning in children, conducting environmental tests for the sources of lead contamination, rabies tests, HIV Tests and patient management, and testing related to food poisoning outbreaks. The Department of Community Health Laboratories also conduct testing for tuberculosis, hepatitis, influenza and sexually transmitted diseases.

Downes, of East Lansing, has served as Director of the Infectious Diseases Division within the Bureau of Laboratories since 1997. She has approximately eight years of administrative and program development experience in the public health laboratory and is also an Adjunct Professor in the Medical Technology Department and International Health Program at Michigan State University.

Downes earned a Doctorate in Public Health laboratory practice and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from Indiana University.

Downes is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the American Society of Clinical Pathology, the American Public Health Association and the Michigan Infectious Diseases Society.