Dr. Bobbi S. Pritt, M.D.'01, M.Sc., is the Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, with joint appointments in the Divisions of Anatomic Pathology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Pritt is the director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory, co-director of Vector-Borne Diseases Laboratory Services, and program director of the medical microbiology fellowship. She joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in 2007 and holds the academic rank of professor of laboratory medicine and pathology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Dr. Pritt received her medical degree at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine, in Burlington, Vermont, and completed residency training there in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, during which she served as Chief Resident. She then undertook a fellowship in Medical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, followed by a master’s degree in medical Parasitology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK. She received the Patrick Buxton Award and Medal for best student in her class.

Dr. Pritt’s primary areas of interest are laboratory diagnosis of parasitic and vector-borne diseases, and the pathology of infectious diseases. She has published more than 250 articles including descriptions of several new tick-borne human pathogens in the United States, 4 books (multiple editions, and 43 book chapters). She shares her passion for parasitology with her weekly case blog, “Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites” (http://parasitewonders.blogspot.com) and posts her cases on X (@ParasiteGal), She also produces a weekly laboratory leadership podcast called “Answers from the Lab” (https://news.mayocliniclabs.com/homepage/podcasts-2/answers-from-the-lab/).

She has held numerous leadership roles at Mayo Clinic, including the Interim Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology for 1.5 years, and the elected Secretary for all of the physicians at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Pritt is also very active in the Clinical Microbiology and Pathology professional societies. Most recently, she served as a member of the Board of Governors for the College of American Pathologists and the Scientific Program Lead for the annual meeting of the American Society of Microbiology. She is an editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the Manual of Clinical Microbiology, the Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook, and Tietz Textbook of Laboratory Medicine (8th Edition, in press).