 Dr. DesJardin is a Public Health Molecular Biologist and serves as the Program Manger for Virology, Serology and Molecular Biology at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory. She also holds a faculty appointment with The Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Dr. DesJardin has worked in academic institutions in the area of Infectious Disease with a focus on diagnostics and pathogenesis since 1981. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Florida, Department of Immunology and Medical Microbiology in 1993. In 1995 she joined the Tuberculosis Research Unit (TBRU) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she developed real-time PCR (TaqMan) tests for determining Mycobacterium tuberculosis viability and assays to monitor microbial gene expression in the sputa of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in order to measure their response to chemotherapy. This work resulted in two patents on PCR based assays and this methodology has been used in TBRU sponsored clinical trials. She has served as an operational manager for BioSafety Level III facilities and has an interest in laboratory safety of select agents and other pathogens. She is a member of The American Society for Microbiology and the Association of Public Health Laboratories. She has also served as a consultant to the CDC's Global Aids Program in the area of tuberculosis diagnostics that included an on-site evaluation of clinics in Uganda. Dr. DesJardin has interests in molecular diagnosis and prevention of emerging infectious diseases, particularly those of public health concern.
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