Robert Donofrio is the current Secretary at MichBio. Prior to that, they were the Director of the Applied Research Center at NSF International from September 2000 to February 2016. In that role, they were responsible for leading the research and method development initiatives at NSF International, including forming strategic collaborative relationships with academia, industry and government division; authoring grant proposals and service as a PI or co-PI on funded projects; initiating and executing contract research projects to support the research, claims validation and project development needs of university researchers and the private sector; providing consulting on human health risk assessment and good laboratory practice; new method development and validation to support the microbiology, molecular and chemistry testing needs of the programs under NSF's core business pillars of healthcare, water, food, Pharma, sustainability and consumer products. Additional responsibilities included authoring peer reviewed publications, providing scientific presentations at conferences and trade shows, technical support in microbiology and molecular biology for NSF's global network of laboratories and providing support for NSF's media branch including radio and television appearances promoting NSF initiatives (such as ScrubClub.org).
Donofrio is also a member of numerous professional societies, including the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology where they serve on the Board of Directors.
Robert Donofrio earned their Ph.D. in Microbiology from Michigan Technological University. Robert also holds an M.S. in Microbiology from Duquesne University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Dayton.
Current role