Early Successes
Barbara began her scientific career in Phoenix, Arizona in 1959, at a fledgling private
research and development laboratory, Bolin Laboratories, Inc. Some of her early
pioneering work at this lab lead to the development of the world’s first commercially
available diagnostic test procedure for screening blood for the Hepatitis B virus, a
very major accomplishment at the time. Technical Excellence
Concurrent with various research projects, Barbara was responsible for the
development and direction of the company’s clinical diagnostic services in the areas
of microbiology, virology, mycology and immunology. As a result of her efforts, the
laboratory emerged as a technical leader and center of excellence in the State in this
emerging area of science. Science and Motherhood
By the nature of her back ground, Barbara raised her children in a scientific setting,
together with Montessori principles. In 1993, following family tradition, her two sons
partnered together and started a laboratory, named Aerotech Laboratories. The
laboratory was created to provide analytical services and consulting to the newly
emerging industry of environmental mold. At the time, Aerotech was one of only
several laboratories in the world in this industry, and as such, there were very little
standardized procedures for this testing. Barbara provided her expertise to her two
sons in the area of laboratory testing and method development, allowing Aerotech to
become the premier technical leader in the field. In ten short years, Aerotech grew to
be the fifth largest environmental testing laboratory in the country with over 330
employees. Responding to Terror Attacks
In response to the anthrax bioterrorism attacks in late 2001, Barbara lead the rapid
development of BTOX Analytical Laboratories, a bioterrorism testing facility and one
of the few private testing labs capable of offering a complete line of laboratory
services for bioterrorism agents. Barbara was responsible for testing thousands of
environmental samples from around the United States and the world. Barbara’s
efforts in this regard helped major buildings and communities access and clear
anthrax contaminated zones. Naegleria fowleri
At the local level, she was the first researcher to isolate and report the presence of
the rare and deadly amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, from Arizona water supplies which
tragically struck the Northwest valley in 2002. Incidents of Naegleria fowleri are
extremely rare in the United States and as such there are very few people in the
nation that are qualified to identify this organism. Drawing on her experiences and
investigative techniques, Barbara was able to develop the expertise to make the
accurate diagnosis, thus allowing proper water treatment and protection of the
community against further cases of Naegleria fowleri.
