Dr. Max Salfinger Joins ADx Laboratories
National Jewish Health Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories recently announced the appointment of Max Salfinger, MD, FAAM, FIDSA, as the new mycobacteriology laboratory director.Dr. Salfinger is an internationally renowned mycobacteriology expert who has published more than 120 articles and book chapters. He is a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America (FIDSA) and of the American Academy of Microbiology (FAAM), and has trained more than 50 International Fogarty Fellows, School of Public Health Interns, and visiting scientists.
Before joining National Jewish Health Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories, Dr. Salfinger was the Florida State Public Health laboratory director from 2006 to 2012, as well as the acting Florida State TB controller during his last 19 months with the Florida Department of Health. Prior to his Florida position, he served as the clinical mycobacteriology laboratory director of the Wadsworth Center with the New York State Department of Health from 1992 to 2006.who has published more than 120 articles and book chapters. He is a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America (FIDSA) and of the American Academy of Microbiology (FAAM), and has trained more than 50 International Fogarty Fellows, School of Public Health Interns, and visiting scientists.
Dr. Salfinger received his medical degree from the University of Basel School of Medicine, Basel, Switzerland. From 1986 to 1988, he completed a sabbatical with the National Jewish Center for Immunology & Respiratory Medicine, Denver, Colorado, (now National Jewish Health) and the University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, Colorado, which resulted in the establishment of the gold-standard drug susceptibility testing for pyrazinamide against tubercle bacilli.
He was instrumental in the development of the New York Fast Track for Tuberculosis Testing Program, which received the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Vision Award – Achieving Excellence in Public Health Through Innovation in 1996. In 2012, the Florida Department of Health received the same ASTHO award for its multidrug-resistant tuberculosis screening program, which Dr. Salfinger helped implement at the public health laboratory.
As a laboratory director at Advanced Diagnostics Laboratories, Dr. Salfinger oversees the clinical mycobacteriology laboratory, as well as research and development for tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and pharmacokinetics. He has a keen interest in developing more rapid diagnostic tests for drug-resistant tuberculosis and NTM disease and aiding health care providers in selecting the most efficacious drug regimen.