Dr. Ken B. Waites, MD, F(AAM) is the Medical Director for the UAB Diagnostic Mycoplasma Laboratory. He is an internationally recognized expert in human mycoplasma and ureaplasma infections, who has authored more than 300 original articles, reviews, and book chapters related to clinical diagnostic microbiology and mycoplasmology. He is a Professor in the UAB Department of Pathology and a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He completed an internship in Pediatrics, a fellowship in medical microbiology, and a residency in pathology at UAB. He served as Section Head of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the UAB Hospital for 20 years, and Microbiology Consultant for the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center for 22 years. Dr. Waites is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Infectious Disease Society of America. He has served as President of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Chair and Secretary-General of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology (IOM), and Chair of the International Program on Comparative Mycoplasmology. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards at UAB, the Elizabeth King Award from the Southeastern Branch of the ASM, as well as the Peter Hannan award on Clinical Applied Mycoplasmology, the Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel Award for lifetime achievements in mycoplasmology research, and the Board of Directors Award from the IOM.
