Chief Scientific Officer, ResInnova Clinical Diagnostics

I am a certified Clinical Microbiologist with 25 years of experience in infectious diseases. The better part of my career was focused on applied microbiology, more specifically antimicrobial drug resistance. It was through that experience, I became a subject matter expert in the development of antimicrobial susceptibility testing methodologies for both government and big pharma. It was because of that experience, I chose to pivot mid-career to use the knowledge and experience gained to better inform non-hospital clinical microbiology settings. I now serve as a microbiology consultant to several independent labs across the U.S.

I speak to providers on a weekly basis to discuss patient results, both molecular and culture/susceptibility. It has become very clear to me that many providers in the outpatient setting have limited experience in an area as complex as infectious diseases. Not only do they have limited experience but limited time to make informed clinical decisions. They either treat empirically, which we know oftentimes is inaccurate and drives greater resistance or they order C&S and hope to have an answer within 3-4 days.

Interestingly, my experience has culminated in a keen interest in the diagnosis and management of UTls due to the potential complexity and challenges of such infections. Even in the healthiest populations, uncomplicated UTIs can have significant impact. The incidence of multidrug resistance uropathogens is increasing, resulting in significant increase in both the spread of resistance and the associated economic burden. That is why rapid ID and AST will be imperative in the outpatient setting moving forward.