Donna M. Wolk

Assistant Professor

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Research Interests

Dr. Wolk is the Division Chief for Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Microbiology at the Arizona Health Science Center, with appointments in the Departments of Pathology and Medicine. She is also a principle investigator in the BIO5 Institute, where she directs the Infectious Disease Research Core Laboratory (IDRC), specializing in clinical and translational research. Her research focuses on molecular diagnosis, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of public health threats, specifically drug-resistant microbes such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and bloodstream infections that lead to sepsis. Her laboratories have successfully completed several FDA clinical trials and host a research-ready microbial biorepository called the MicroBank. Her laboratories comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations and are nationally recognized as a model for quality practices in molecular diagnostic microbiology and clinical/translational research in infectious disease diagnostics. In addition, she co-directs the Molecular Genetics Pathology fellowship, one of 26 accredited programs in the U.S. Dr. Wolk joined the faculty in 2001, after completing her post-doctoral Medical and Public Health Microbiology fellowship and molecular diagnostic training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She is among the select group of internationally recognized Diplomates of the American Board of Medical Microbiology and she is board-certified as a specialist in Clinical and Public Health Microbiology and Clinical Laboratory Science. Dr. Wolk holds a Master's degree in health administration, and received her clinical laboratory science training in medical technology from Penn State University. Her national service activities include her positions as a Waksman lecturer for the American Society of Microbiology and membership on the editorial board for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.  Dr. Wolk is the recipient of several national scientific merit awards for translational research and she maintains corporate, foundation, and government funding. She has recently been selected for Arizona's Clinical and Translational Study Award and Clinical Scholar 's Circle. She also serves as an advisor to Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, Harmonizing Key Business Practices Work Group.

Selected Publications

Wolk DM, Struelens M, Pancholi P, Davis T, Della-Latta P, Fuller D, Picton E, Dickenson R, Denis O, Johnson D, Chapin K. Jan 2009. Rapid Detection of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Wound Specimens and Blood Cultures: A Multicenter Pre-Clinical Evaluation of the Cepheid XpertTM MRSA/SA SSTI and BC Assays. J Clin Microbiol,2009 Jan 14;

Wolk DM, Picton E, Johnson D, Davis T, Pancholi P, Ginocchio CC, Finegold S, Welch DF, de Boer M, Fuller D, Solomon MC, Rogers B, Mehta MS, Peterson LR. Jan 2009. A Multicenter Evaluation of the Cepheid XpertTM MRSA Test as a Rapid Screening Method for Detection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Nares Swabs. J Clin Microbiol,2009 Jan 7;

Wolk DM, Blyn LB, Hall TA, Sampath R, Ranken R, Ivy C, Melton R, Matthews H, White N, Li F, Harpin V, Ecker DJ, Limbago B, McDougal LK, Wysocki VH, Cai M, Carroll KC. Aug 2009. Pathogen profiling: Rapid molecular characterization of Staphylococcus aureus by PCR/ESI-MS and correlation with phenotype. J Clin Microbiol,2009 Aug 26;

Hall TA, Sampath R, Blyn LB, Ranken R, Ivy C, Melton R, Matthews H, White N, Li F, Harpin V, Ecker DJ, McDougal LK, Limbago B, Ross T, Wolk DM, Wysocki V, Carroll KC. Jun 2009. Rapid molecular genotyping and clonal complex assignment of Staphylococcus aureus isolates by PCR coupled to electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. J Clin Microbiol, 47:1733-41