Integrity Laboratories Expands Executive Team, Appoints Cekanova as Chief Scientific Officer

Aug 05, 2020 at 09:55 am by Staff


In the eastern part of the state, Knoxville-based Integrity Laboratories has announced the appointment of Maria Cekanova, RNDr, PhD, to chief scientific officer. This announcement comes as the laboratory has seen unprecedented growth and expansion since receiving Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), issued by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2020, for its SARS-COV-2 laboratory developed test to detect individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider.

"We are thrilled to appoint Dr. Maria Cekanova to this vital role within our growing organization," said Christian Clevenger, Integrity Laboratories president and CEOr. "Dr. Cekanova's pedigree, skill and prior work experience aligns her perfectly with our current executive team." She will be responsible for the oversight of Integrity Laboratories scientific, technology, and research operations, which is known throughout the medical and research community for pioneering real-time, high-complexity clinical diagnostics for modern infectious disease management.

Prior to joining Integrity Laboratories, Cekanova served as the director of Translational Research Laboratory and research associate professor of oncology at the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Tennessee. Cekanova received her PhD in genetics from Pavol Josef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia and did postdoctoral research training at the University of Tennessee at the Department of Pathobiology of College of Veterinary Medicine. She began her academic career at the University of Tennessee at the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences in 2009. Cekanova has received numerous awards for her work from the National Cancer Institute, the America Association of Cancer Research, among others. She has authored over 35 research publications and served on the College of Research Committee at UTCVM since 2011 and on the Science Review Committee for Neutron Science user's proposals at Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2015.

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