For labs that perform molecular diagnostic testing, implementing new products can occasionally require training or troubleshooting to ensure seamless integration with current and future workflows. Our Molecular Applications Support Teams are experts in the field, and they combine their experience as both scientists and customer advocates to ensure our customers are set up for success.
Aaron Benfield, Senior Director of Molecular Applications, leads the Molecular Applications Team out of our Austin office and interfaces heavily with our Marketing, Sales, and R&D Teams to share the latest insights from the field. He joined Luminex in 2011 and holds a bachelor’s degree and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Q: What are your responsibilities at Luminex?
A: My team is mainly responsible for implementing diagnostic products in customer labs, as well as providing on-site training and troubleshooting. I manage a mostly field-based team that helps get customers up and running with our products in hospital, reference, and government labs across the US and Canada.
Q: What did you do before this job?
A: I was working at the Texas Department of State Health Services, where I was the Molecular Biology Group Manager and a Luminex customer.
Q: What drew you to Luminex?
A: One of my former colleagues was hired as a Field Applications Specialist at Luminex, and when she came to my lab to train my team on a new product, I became interested in learning more about her role. I liked the idea of travel—getting out and exploring new places while meeting different customers—so I applied and ended up joining Luminex as a Field Applications Specialist about a decade ago.
Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?
A: Technology moves quickly, and we can currently measure biological details like never before. If I could wave a magic wand, I’d improve the synergy between that data and how it could improve drug development, as well as patient diagnostics and treatment. I’d love to see improvements in how the scientific community studies drugs or cancers at a cellular level. I believe if we could further automate technology, we could use it to solve major challenges facing humankind.
Q: If you weren’t working in your current role at Luminex, what would you be doing?
A: I’ve had a fascination with meteorology that continues to this day, so I could see myself being a weatherman.
Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?
A: I was on the University of Texas water ski team. I grew up on a lake, and I spent a lot of time water skiing and wakeboarding when I was younger, so in college, I tried out and made the team. The University provided the boat and we had our own ski lake outside of town with a slalom course and a ski jump. It was somewhat of a fraternity experience, as we traveled to competitions in places like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in Austin on the weekend?
A: I enjoy going out to eat, seeing live music, and going to the lake—I end up spending much the summer on the lake with my family and friends. Lately, I have been trying to get my kids into water sports. I got my oldest on skis when they were four or five years old. The last time I tried a flip, I tore a tendon in my arm that required surgery. Those days may be behind me at this point!
