Robin Patel is the Elizabeth P. and Robert E. Allen Professor of individualized medicine, director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, and co-director of the Clinical Bacteriology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic. Her research focuses on improvement of next-generation diagnostic techniques, understanding the inherent biology of periprosthetic infection, and understanding antibiotic resistance through a clinical lens. Patel has published over 585 peer-reviewed publications. She is the director of the laboratory center of the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group of the National Institutes of Health. Patel earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Princeton University and a medical degree from McGill University. She completed internal medicine residency and fellowships in medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic. She has been involved in setting standards for diagnostic and clinical care of bacterial infections, as evidenced by positions she has held or holds within the American Society for Microbiology (president), the American Board of Pathology (test writing committee member), Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (council member), National Board of Medical Examiners (test material committee chair), Journal of Clinical Microbiology (associate editor), and Clinical Infectious Diseases (associate editor).