Get Current! Using the 2023 Breakpoint Implementation Toolkit to Update and Document AST Breakpoints

Romney Humphries, PhD D(ABMM) is a Professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she is the Director of Infectious Diseases Laboratories and the Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine.

Romney received her PhD in bacteriology from the University of Calgary, Canada and a clinical and public health microbiology CPEP fellowship at UCLA.

She worked at UCLA as an assistant professor in Pathology and laboratory medicine from 2010–2017 and was the section chief for clinical microbiology from 2012–2017. She then took on the role of Chief Scientific Officer at Accelerate Diagnostics from 2017–2020 before returning to academia in 2020, at VUMC.

Dr. Humphries is passionate about clinical microbiology and antimicrobial resistance in particular. She is a champion for the development of novel diagnostic tests for infectious diseases to transform how patients with infections are managed.

Dr. Humphries is an editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Clinical Infectious Diseases. She is a member of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST) Subcommittee, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Microbiology Committee, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Professional Practices Committee, and vice-chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Diagnostics Committee.

She is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed articles, numerous book chapters, and has lectured globally on the topics of antimicrobial resistance and diagnostic microbiology. Dr. Humphries is the 2022 ASM awardee for Leadership and Research in Clinical Microbiology. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Dr. Abbott is the Director of the Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory for Deaconess Health System, a large, multi-hospital network in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. She is an American Board of Medical Microbiology diplomate and adjunct Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and is on the Journal of Clinical Microbiology Editorial Board and serves on local and regional microbiology committees.

Dr. Abbott is a member of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) Subcommittee, including the Outreach Working Group. Her main area of interest is in antimicrobial susceptibility testing and resistance. She has a number of publications, book chapters, and presentations related to susceptibility testing, antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship and diagnostic stewardship.

Felicia Rice, MT (ASCP) is currently the Technical Specialist II in the Microbiology Laboratory and an Instructor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a member of the Text and Tables Working Group and is the Secretary for the Outreach Working Group.

Tsigereda Tekle MT (ASCP) graduated from Washington University with a BS in Medical Technology, and has worked in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Microbiology Department, where she is a Lead Medical Technologist of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, for over 20 years. She is a CLSI member and serves on CLSI’s M45 Working Group. Ms. Tekle has also contributed her expertise to many posters and publications throughout the years.