MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS

About Us

The CRL Molecular Diagnostics business unit is comprised of a talented staff of scientists with a broad range of expertise to support customer needs:

Heather Fehling, PhD., HCLD
Executive Director of Molecular Diagnostics

Dr. Heather Fehling joined CRL in 2008 and supports CRL’s new business development initiatives which include Molecular Diagnostics. Dr. Fehling brings extensive experience in both laboratory management and business development. Her most recent experience was as Executive Director of the Genomics Laboratory at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics. In addition to managing the laboratory, she conducted research centered on genomics technologies for diagnosis of patients with chromosomal abnormalities. Prior to that, she managed the molecular biology and microarray facilities at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

Steve Dunham
Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory Supervisor

Mr. Dunham joined CRL in 1995. Mr. Dunham has over thirty years of experience in clinical laboratory medicine and environmental chemistry. Following a tour in Vietnam, he served as a Medical Laboratory Procedures Specialist at Brook Army Medical Center. After receiving an Honorable Discharge from the Military, Mr. Dunham earned his BA in Chemistry from UMKC. His analytical experience includes Gas, Liquid and Thin Layer Chromatography, Mass Spectroscopy, Gel and Capillary Electrophoresis, Radioimmunoassay, ELISA, Cell Receptor Assays, Flow Cytometry, Sequencing, Real Time PCR, and Hybridization Assays.

Leena Kumar, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist

Dr. Kumar joined Clinical Reference Laboratory in 2009 as a staff scientist in the Molecular Diagnostic division. She has a broad range of academic and industrial experience in Molecular Biology, Cell biology and Biochemistry. Before joining CRL she worked for Aptuit, Inc; prior to that she was with University of Kansas Medical Center, Texas A&M College of Medicine, and Texas A&M Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Kumar has over 10 years of biomedical research experience in metabolic studies, stem cell research, and drug development studies. She has worked as primary scientist for multiple R&D projects and has involved in the development and validation of several assays including Real time PCR and microarrays.

Rebecca Henkhaus, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist

Dr. Henkhaus joined CRL in 2011 as a staff scientist in the Molecular Diagnostics division. She has academic research experience in a variety of disciplines including molecular biology, medicinal chemistry and genetics. Her past areas of research include molecular biomarkers and signal pathways in colon and pancreatic cancer, tissue-specific binding and cleavage of novel fluorescent compounds, and molecular genetic research on disorders including Prader-Willi syndrome, autistics spectrum disorders and alcoholism. In addition to her work in laboratory research, Dr. Henkhaus has also held the positions of lab manager and adjunct faculty. She has expertise in cell culture, DNA/RNA isolation, microbiology techniques including plasmid cloning and sub-cloning, real-time PCR, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and protein analysis using Western blotting, ELISA and Luminex technologies.

John Holtzclaw
Senior Research Associate

John Holtzclaw joined CRL in 2005 upon graduation from The University of Kansas Medical Center with a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science and a specialty in Molecular Biotechnology.  He performed manual biomarker analysis, manual assay development, and method validations for the CRL Clinical Trials department prior to joining the CRL Molecular Diagnostics division in 2008.  His background and experience includes Radioimmunoassay, ELISA, GCMS, HPLC, DNA/RNA extractions, gene splicing & recombination, protein manipulation, DNA sequencing, RT-PCR, and hybridizations.

Cindy Dillard
Senior Research Associate

Cindy Dillard graduated from Emporia State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Mathematics. Ms Dillard has over eighteen years experience in academic research and clinical laboratories which include Molecular Diagnostics, Toxicology and Pharmacology. In academia she has worked at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics and The Cancer Center. Her Academia Research involved dioxin toxicity, apoptosis mechanism research and Cancer research. At CRL she initially worked in R&D before joining Molecular Diagnostics. Her background and experience includes Cell Culture, Cell Viability assays, Western Blot, Flow Cytometry, Radioimmunoassay, ELISA, HPLC, DNA/RNA extractions, Taqman assays, Agarose gel electrophoresis and PCR.