Biographical Feature: Stephen G. Jenkins, Ph.D., D(ABMM), F(AAM)

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Dr. Stephen G. Jenkins, D(ABMM), is the recipient of the 2019 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Award for Research and Leadership in Clinical Microbiology. Dr. Jenkins has exemplified the characteristics described for this award, which “Recognizes an outstanding scientist/clinical microbiologist with distinguished research achievements, and a record of innovation and advancement of the Clinical Microbiology profession.” Throughout his career, Dr. Jenkins has been an outstanding clinician and scientist, while also being strongly supportive of the profession of clinical microbiology through leadership and participation in professional organizations.

Dr. Jenkins and his four brothers grew up in eastern Massachusetts. His father was a tax examiner who oversaw sales tax administration for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His mother, who worked at home, was very talented in mathematics, and so Dr. Jenkins’s analytical skills come from both sides of the family. He also grew up with a love for the local sports teams, particularly the Boston Red Sox. Dr. David Snydman said, “He has braved the elements in Yankee Stadium to root for his team, often at great personal peril as he signifies his allegiance to the Sox.”

In 1966, he enrolled at Beloit College in Wisconsin to study biology. His studies were interrupted by military service, where he first became interested in clinical microbiology. He was posted at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX, where he was trained as a general laboratory technologist. Clinical microbiology was his favorite among the laboratory specialties, and after completing his military service and undergraduate studies, he decided to pursue a Ph.D. He enrolled in the graduate program in medical microbiology at the University of Vermont and completed his Ph.D. dissertation in 1979 (1). It is notable that he finished his graduate work in less than 5 years, when he already had a family with three children and, without the knowledge of the university, worked nights and weekends as an assistant laboratory supervisor at a local hospital. After completing his doctoral degree, he had a choice between several clinical fellowships and a fellowship at the Karolinska Institute to continue his studies of interferons. Dr. Jenkins decided upon the clinical pathway and enrolled in the postdoctoral residency program in clinical and public health microbiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI. There, he did research on susceptibility testing of Bacteroides fragilis group bacteria with Dr. Ronald J. Zabransky, an expert on anaerobic bacteria and susceptibility testing (2, 3).

Following his fellowship, Dr. Jenkins became director of microbiology and immunology at the Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL. Driven by his interests in clinical practice, teaching, and research, he has changed positions several times. Dr. Jenkins said, “I’m the only clinical microbiologist to have worked twice at three different places.” In addition to working twice at Carolinas Medical Center, Dr. Jenkins has twice been director of the clinical microbiology laboratories at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, also in New York City, where he is currently the director of clinical microbiology. Colleagues who succeeded him offer high praise. Dr. Robert Sautter said, “I accepted a position that Dr. Jenkins had held in the past. I did not take long to see how Dr. Jenkins had taken laboratory medicine to the forefront of all health care providers’ thought processes. Taking over this job was an honor following such a dynamic microbiologist. Dr. Jenkins paved the way on how the laboratory should be run.” Dr. Diane Halstead said, “Leaving a vacancy at Baptist Medical Center, Steve encouraged me to apply for the position, and the rest is history, but I have to say he was a hard act to follow.” Dr. Lars Westblade, the associate director of clinical microbiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, wrote, “He has been an outstanding mentor and friend. He is selfless with his time, energy, and intellect. I have benefitted extensively from his guidance and been most fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him at this early stage of my career. I owe him a great deal indeed, although he would humbly state he was only doing what was right. He has a quote that I find particularly profound: ‘A mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.’” Dr. Jenkins also worked at Aventis Pharmaceutical, as director for microbiology and as director for development of the antibiotic telithromycin and direction of postmarketing work related to quinupristin-dalfopristin, but found that he preferred clinical and academic work. He has steadily risen through the academic ranks and is now a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine as well as a professor of pathology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Jenkins and his wife have moved at least nine times, something that may be winding down, as he will retire on 1 July 2019 to become professor emeritus.

Dr. Zabransky, Dr. Jenkins’s fellowship mentor, guided him to an area in which he would make major contributions to clinical microbiology. As Dr. Jenkins explained, “He dragged me to my first NCCLS meeting, and I’ve been involved ever since.” Indeed, he has been an author of multiple editions of five different documents from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI; formerly the National Committee for Clinical and Laboratory Standards [NCCLS]): Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, Methods for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Anaerobic Bacteria, Methods for Dilution Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests for Bacteria That Grow Aerobically, Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Disk Susceptibility Tests, and Analysis and Presentation of Cumulative Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Data (4–8). In addition, he was cochairperson of the working group on methodology and the working group on methods application and interpretation and the chairperson of the Enterobacteriaceae working group for the CLSI Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. He also served as an advisor to and member of the CLSI Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. In 2019, he received the CLSI Excellence Award for Consensus Management. In his more than 20 years as a volunteer with the CLSI, Dr. Jenkins has seen some important changes. What were once small meetings are now large, as the number of groups represented at the meetings has expanded greatly. Welcome changes have included the addition of working groups to investigate specific technical questions in depth, the publication of rationale documents explaining CLSI changes, recognition of many CLSI breakpoints by the Food and Drug Administration, and recent efforts to harmonize guidance from the CLSI and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST).

Dr. Jenkins’s research has been in a variety of areas, and he has collaborated with a diverse group of investigators. Most of his papers are directly applicable to clinical microbiology testing. Two areas of particular focus have been antimicrobials and rapid diagnostic testing. Within his research on antimicrobials, there are again two separate interests: first, the epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and second, antibiotic susceptibility testing. He has studied the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms (9–14) as well as the methods for and utility of detecting such organisms in the microbiota (15–18). Dr. Jenkins has published on methods of susceptibility testing throughout his career, most recently on detection of carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacilli (19–21). His interest in rapid diagnostic testing has been driven by a desire to improve patient care by providing timely results, with his research including studies of molecular and phenotypic tests to detect the spread of clonal organisms in the hospital setting, resistant organisms, and respiratory virus infections (22–26). Although he has used cutting-edge technology, he maintains the classical skills of the clinical microbiologist. Dr. Michael Satlin, who has worked with Dr. Jenkins at Weill Cornell Medical Center, said, “One astonishing thing that Steve taught me is how the eyes and nose of an expert clinical microbiologist can outperform any new fancy diagnostic test.”

In addition to recognizing contributions in research, the ASM Award for Research and Leadership in Clinical Microbiology recognizes leadership in clinical microbiology. Dr. Jenkins’s contributions to the profession of microbiology are extensive. He was elected chair of Division C (Clinical Microbiology) of ASM as well as president of the New York City branch of ASM and president of the Medical Mycology Society of New York. Dr. Jenkins has been very active in the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM) of ASM, which oversees professional certification of doctoral-level microbiologists to direct clinical and public health laboratories. He has been the chair of the Professional Recognition Award Committee and chair of the ABMM overall as well as a member of the Examination Subcommittees, the Executive Committee, and the Committee on Postdoctoral Education. Dr. Jenkins was selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), the honorific leadership group of ASM. Within the AAM, he has been a member of the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors Nominating Committee, and the bioMérieux Sonnenwirth Award Nominating Committee.

Dr. Jenkins has been a very popular speaker at scientific conferences and a successful organizer of meetings and workshops. Dr. Halstead describes his role in one of the most popular and successful regional meetings. “As a visionary, he led the way to establishing the successful First Coast Infectious Disease/Clinical Microbiology Symposia, now in its 26th year. He is lovingly thought of as ‘The Father of the FCID/CM meetings.’ Steve remains a tradition with the First Coast meeting.” Dr. Jenkins also coconvened a very successful workshop at the ASM General Meeting (now Microbe). As Dr. Steve Brecher explained, “Steve and I joined together for a 20-year stint of running the best attended workshop in ASM history. 2019 will be the first year that it will not be presented because, as Steve might say, ‘Maybe we thought we pneumo than we did.’” This brings us to the puns. Friends of Dr. Jenkins call him “the king of puns,” and they quote him with delight. Highlights include “TB or not TB, that is congestion,” “Let’s B. cereus and stay on topic,” and “Some say these organisms are meffed up” (referring to antibiotic resistance mediated by mefA), and he has “a sinking feeling when discussing Candida lusitaniae.”

Outside of clinical microbiology, Dr. Jenkins has been very active in his community. He coached boy’s baseball for several years, judged the Siemens Westinghouse Science Fair, and served as a mentor for several different high school science research training programs. He now divides his time between New York City and Beverly Beach, FL. He and his wife are very active in hiking, fishing, and crabbing. They have a close-knit family, and three of their five children live close by.