Kathy Ong

Molecular Lab Manager

Kathy Ong has been a member of the MRSN since 2013. She is an accomplished molecular biologist and research leader with over two decades of experience in microbiology, next-generation sequencing and antimicrobial resistance research. A graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, Kathy currently serves as the Molecular Lab Manager for the MRSN and has been instrumental in establishing and expanding a core Next Generation Sequencing laboratory for the Military Healthcare System.
 
Select publications:
 
Martin MJ, Luo TL, Kovalchuk V, Kondratiuk V, Dao HD, Kovalenko I, Plaza BJ, Kettlewell JM, Anderson CP, Smedberg JR, Ong AC, Kwak YI, Hawley-Molloy JS, Bennett JW, McGann PT, Lebreton F. Detection of cefiderocol and aztreonam/avibactam resistance in epidemic Escherichia coli ST-361 carrying bla(NDM-5) and bla(KPC-3) from foreign fighters evacuated from Ukraine. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2024 Nov 6;68(11):e0109024. doi: 10.1128/aac.01090-24. Epub 2024 Sep 20. PubMed PMID: 39302119; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11539215.

Mills EG, Martin MJ, Luo TL, Ong AC, Maybank R, Corey BW, Harless C, Preston LN, Rosado-Mendez JA, Preston SB, Kwak YI, Backlund MG, Bennett JW, Mc Gann PT, Lebreton F. A one-year genomic investigation of Escherichia coli epidemiology and nosocomial spread at a large US healthcare network. Genome Med. 2022 Dec 30;14(1):147. doi: 10.1186/s13073-022-01150-7. PubMed PMID: 36585742; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9801656.

Lesho E, Corey B, Lebreton F, Ong AC, Swierczewski BE, Bennett JW, Walsh EE, McGann P. Emergence of the E484K Mutation in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Lineage B.1.1.345 in Upstate New York. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Mar 9;74(5):909-912. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab507. PubMed PMID: 34086878; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8244745.

McGann P, Snesrud E, Maybank R, Corey B, Ong AC, Clifford R, Hinkle M, Whitman T, Lesho E, Schaecher KE. Escherichia coli Harboring mcr-1 and blaCTX-M on a Novel IncF Plasmid: First Report of mcr-1 in the United States. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016 Jul;60(7):4420-1. doi: 10.1128/AAC.01103-16. Print 2016 Jul. PubMed PMID: 27230792; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4914657.

Peterson SN, Snesrud E, Liu J, Ong AC, Kilian M, Schork NJ, Bretz W. The dental plaque microbiome in health and disease. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58487. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058487. Epub 2013 Mar 8. PubMed PMID: 23520516; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3592792.