Wendy Szymczak, PhD, D(ABMM), MT(ASCP), is the Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Montefiore Medical Center. She has a particular interest in the implementation of rapid diagnostics assays and works closely with Infection Prevention and Control practitioners to limit the spread of infections such as Clostridium difficile, and with the Antimicrobial Stewardship Team to optimize antimicrobial resistance testing and reporting.

Research: Dr. Szymczak works in collaboration with Dr. William R. Jacobs Jr. and several gastroenterologists from Montefiore to conduct translational research projects to improve Helicobacter pylori diagnosis and treatment. In a recent publication, the team was able to demonstrate that whole genome sequencing of H. pylori isolates can be used as an accurate method for antimicrobial resistance detection. The group is also working on new methods to detect H. pylori and determine antimicrobial resistance directly from tissue and stool specimens and on the development of phage-based diagnostics.

Teaching: Dr. Szymczak enjoys teaching pathology residents and infectious-disease fellows during their rotations within the Montefiore Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. She also teaches second-year medical students in active-learning sessions designed to bridge clinical laboratory results with clinical decision making.

Baron SW, Ostrowsky BE, Nori P, Drory DY, Levi MH, Szymczak WA, Rinke ML, Southern WN.Screening of Clostridioides difficile carriers in an urban academic medical center: Understanding implications of disease. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2019 Dec 11:1-5. doi: 10.1017/ice.2019.309. [Epub ahead of print]

Saranathan R, Levi MH, Wattam AR, Malek A, Asare E, Behin DS, Pan DH, Jacobs WR, Szymczak WA. Helicobacter pylori infections in the Bronx, New York: Surveying Antibiotic Susceptibility and Strain Lineage by Whole-genome Sequencing.  J Clin Microbiol. 2019 Dec 4. pii: JCM.01591-19. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01591-19. [Epub ahead of print]

Ackelsberg J, Liddicoat A, Burke T, Szymczak WA, Levi MH, Ostrowsky B, Hamula C, Patel G, Kopetz V, Saverimuttu J, Sordillo EM, D'Souza D, Mitchell EA, Lowe W, Khare R, Tang YW, Bianchi AL, Egan C, Perry MJ, Hughes S, Rakeman JL, Adams E, Kharod GA, Tiller R, Saile E, Lee S, Gonzalez E, Hoppe B, Leviton IM, Hacker S, Ni KF, Orsini RL, Jhaveri S, Mazariegos I, Dingle T, Koll B, Stoddard RA, Galloway R, Hoffmaster A, Fine A, Lee E, Dentinger C, Harrison E, Layton M. Brucella Exposure Risk Events in Ten Clinical Laboratories, New York City, 2015 - 2017. J Clin Microbiol. 2019 Nov 6. pii: JCM.01096-19. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01096-19. [Epub ahead of print]

Munjal I. Szymczak WA, Ostrowsky B. Investigation of disease outbreaks. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Chapter 10, 12^th Edition. 2019. ASM Press.

Trachuk P, Szymczak W, Muscarella P, Sarwar U. A case of invasive gastrointestinal Mycotypha infection in a patient with neutropenia. Case Reports in Infectious Diseases. 2018. doi: 10.1155/2018/5864175.

Mittal J, Szymczak W, Guo Y, Levi M. Riska P. Two for the price of one – emerging carbapenemases in a returning traveller to New York City. BMJ Case Reports. 2018. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2018-225440.

Mittal J, Szymczak WA, Robbins N, Harris C, Nori P. An unusual cause of community-acquired pneumonia. IDCases. 2017. 11:41-43. doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2017.12.010.

Jaimie M, Szymczak WA, Pirofski L, Galen BT. Fungemia caused by Aureobasidium pullulans in a patient with advanced AIDS: a case report and review of the medical literature. JMM Case Rep. 2018, 5(4): doi: 10.1099/jmmcr.0.005144.

Bartash R, Guo Y, Pope J, Levi MH, Szymczak W, Nidhi S, Nori P. Periprosthetic hip joint infection with Aspergillus terreus: A clinical case and a review of the literature. Medical Mycology Case Reports. 2017, 18:24-27.

Kao C, Szymczak W, Munjal I. Meningitis due to Moraxella nonliquefaciens in a pediatric patient: A case report and review of the literature. JMM Case Reports. 2017. 4(2): doi: 10.1099/jmmcr.0.005086.

Enemchukwu CU, Ben-Faras H, Gialanella P, Szymczak WA, Nasanchuk JD, Madaline TF. Butyricimonas virosa bacteraemia and bowel disease: case report and review. New Microbes and New Infections. 2016, 13: 34-36.

Nori P, Szymczak W, Park C, Gialanella P, Munjal I, Chung C, Guo Y, Williamson J, Ostrowsky B, Levi M. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry as a first line diagnostic modality in bacterial meningitis and septicemia: A report of five cases. April 1^st, 2016. Clinical Microbiology Newsletter. April 1^st, 2016, 38(7): 57-60.

Szymczak WA, Davis MJ, Lundy SK, Dufaud C, Olszewski M, Pirofski L. X-linked immunodeficient mice exhibit enhanced susceptibility to Cryptococcus neoformans infection. mBio. 2013, 4: e00265-13. doi:10.1128/mBio.00265-13.

Szymczak WA, Sellers RA, Pirofski L. IL-23 dampens the allergic response to Cryptococcus neoformans through IL-17-independent and -dependent mechanisms. American Journal of Pathology. 2012, 180:1547-59.

Szymczak WA, Deepe GS. Antigen presenting dendritic cells rescue CCR2^-/- mice from lethal H. capsulatum infection. Infection and Immunity. 2010, 78:2125-37.

Szymczak WA, Sellers RA, Pirofski L. IL-23 dampens the allergic response to Cryptococcus neoformans through IL-17-independent and -dependent mechanisms. American Journal of Pathology. 2012, 180:1547-59.