Marisa C. Nielsen received her B.S in Microbiology and her M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from University of Arizona. She spent nearly a decade working in clinical microbiology before deciding to pursue her PhD at University of California, Irvine. Afterwards, she completed her Clinical Microbiology Fellowship at University of Texas, Medical Branch. She is a certified Specialist in Microbiology by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and a board-accredited Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology. Her interests range from microbiome research to infectious diseases diagnostics and microscopy, with a specific focus on pathogens acquired from environmental exposures and the protective role of commensal organisms in the infection process.

Currently, she is an Assistant Professor for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, the Assistant Director for Clinical Microbiology at Boston Medical Center, and holds a BU-BMC Cancer Center Faculty Appointment.