Alison St. John

Dr. Alison St. John is a Scientist for the federal government. Her areas of expertise are in pandemic diseases, microbiology, biodefense and medical intelligence. She has a B.S. degree in Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She decided to stay at Penn State and then through the Walden program to finish her graduate studies. She completed a M.S. degree in Genetics, a M.Agr. degree in Animal Science, a M.S. degree in Public Health and a Ph.D. degree in Public Health Epidemiology. At this agency and national laboratory, she served as a principle investigator focusing on biodefense-related pathogens.

Because of her background in pandemic diseases and her extensive collaborations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), she began exploring the field of pandemic diseases and how it interacts with regulatory affairs – developing diagnostics and warning methodologies that can help protect and mitigate against diseases with pandemic potential. She became involved in Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in designing assays for early detection and diagnostic work. She also went on to train in ISO 17025 and 9001 as well as to serve as an internal auditor for the ISO 17025 program.