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Presenters
Dr. April Bobenchik
Associate Professor of Pathology, Division of Clinical Pathology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine
Dr. April Bobenchik is the Medical Director of Microbiology and Virology at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pathology at Penn State College of Medicine. Dr. Bobenchik has expertise in medical microbiology and laboratory diagnostics, with specific interests in diagnostic test development, antimicrobial resistance detection, and education. She is an active member of the American Society of Microbiology and a member of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing.
Dr. David Jenkins
Consultant in Medical Microbiology and Virology and Lead Infection Control Doctor, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Dr. David Jenkins is a consultant medical microbiologist and infection prevention specialist and past President of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). Dr. Jenkins has served as lead infection prevention doctor at University Hospitals of Leicester for over 20 years. He is also his Trust’s lead doctor for antimicrobial stewardship. In addition, Dr. Jenkins is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in infection at the University of Leicester Medical School. He researches antimicrobial stewardship and co-led an Economics and Social Research Council funded study on antibiotic prescribing in the UK, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
Dr. Stephanie Mitchell
Principal, Scientific Affairs, Beckman Coulter Microbiology
Dr. Stephanie Mitchell joined Beckman Coulter Microbiology as Senior Director of Scientific Affairs in 2025. Prior to joining Danaher, and after receiving her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology Ph.D. from Tufts University, completing her Medical and Public Health Microbiology CPEP Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and receiving board certification from the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM), she served as the Medical Director of two full-service clinical microbiology laboratories at a large tertiary academic medical center.
Prior to her time in the clinical lab, Dr. Mitchell worked as a research scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developing novel real time PCR diagnostics for various respiratory bacterial diseases and also supported the CDC’s response to the pandemic Influenza A H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
Prior to her time in the clinical lab, Dr. Mitchell worked as a research scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developing novel real time PCR diagnostics for various respiratory bacterial diseases and also supported the CDC’s response to the pandemic Influenza A H1N1 outbreak in 2009.
Dr. Michael Loeffelholz
Vice President, Scientific Affairs, Cepheid
Michael J. Loeffelholz, Ph.D., D(ABMM), joined Cepheid in 2018, where he is currently Vice President, Scientific Affairs. He received a Ph.D. in microbiology from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio in 1987. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in medical and public health microbiology at the University of Rochester in 1990, he was a senior scientist at Roche Molecular Systems from 1990–1995. From 1995–2008, Loeffelholz held leadership positions in public health laboratories and private reference laboratories.
From 2008–2018 he was associate professor, then full professor, with tenure, in the department of pathology at University of Texas Medical Branch, and Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. He served as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2015–2022.
From 2008–2018 he was associate professor, then full professor, with tenure, in the department of pathology at University of Texas Medical Branch, and Medical Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. He served as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2015–2022.
Sarah Thomas
Associate Editor
SelectScience