Research & Diagnostics Team
Our experienced research and diagnostics team is made up of a group of dedicated people with a shared common goal: Providing veterinarians and producers with the best possible diagnostics & vaccine manufacturing quality and service.
Emily Collin
R&D and Diagnostics Manager
Dr. Collin has over 15 years of experience in the animal health industry. Prior to joining Cambridge, she worked at Ceva Animal Health as a scientist in the Scientific Services and Investigation Unit (SSIU) working on swine and poultry virology. Emily has also worked as a research assistant at Kansas State University while she was finishing research for her Ph.D. from South Dakota State University. She began her career in animal health at Newport Laboratories where she worked for 10 years. As the R&D and Diagnostics Manager, Emily will coordinate efforts in the diagnostic and research labs at Cambridge Technologies.
“Working in animal health, especially in the autogenous vaccine field, means that every day is unique and presents with challenges and opportunities. It is rewarding to see the efforts you invested in diagnostics and research providing solutions to producer’s problems and to make a difference”.
“Driven, experienced and scientific.”
"Explore the area with my husband and dogs."
"Probably a tie between Spain and the UK/Ireland."
Jake Alsdurf
Molecular Biologist
Jake holds an MS in integrative Genomics from Black Hills State University and is finishing another MS at Kansas State University. Prior to joining Cambridge, he worked for 3 years at Ceva Animal Health as a scientist in the Scientific Services and Investigation Unit working on swine and poultry genomic sequencing and bioinformatics. As a molecular biologist, Jake will focus on sequencing, assembling, and characterizing the genomes of bacteria and viruses for clients of Cambridge Technologies.
“The sequencing and assembly of genomes is the largest jigsaw puzzle available to puzzle enthusiasts, and I think putting it all together is fun. What I enjoy most is the questions and answers associated with bacterial and viral population genomics and I want to pass on those finding to our clients”.
“Connected, motivating, innovative.”
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa." – Lord Darth Vader"
"Anything outside with dogs and wife."
Eric Baumgardner
Research Scientist
Eric has over 15 years of experience in the animal health Industry. Prior to working at Cambridge, he was a research scientist at Newport Laboratories. Before that, Eric spent 5 years working for Camas Inc., a company that manufactured chicken antibody-based feed additives for cattle and pigs. In high school, he also worked for a year at VMC labs in Worthington, MN.
“I enjoy the opportunity to translate ideas into products and solutions for farmers and veterinarians. The rapid speed of innovation at Cambridge has been exciting.”
"More often than not, whenever I am not here I am at one of my kids’ hockey games, but I also like to hunt, camp, fish, hike, bike, and spend as much time outdoors as I can. I also really enjoy traveling."
"My wife and I spent two weeks in England and Scotland for our honeymoon. That still ranks as the best vacation I've had the opportunity to take. We have also taken a couple of road trips out to Lake Placid, NY for hockey with our kids and those were a blast."
Lynette Demuth
Microbiologist
Lynette has 30 years of experience in bacteriology and R&D. During her career, Lynette has worked in diagnostics for both large multinational corporations and small independent companies. As a Bacteriologist, she works on many of the submissions that come into the diagnostic laboratory. She works a lot on aerobic and anaerobic culture and sensitivity as well as histology. Because of her years of experience and dedication to solving problems she has built long-lasting relationships with many veterinarians and feels personally invested in helping them.
“I really enjoy the opportunity that presents itself each day. Because of our smaller size and the growth we are experiencing, there are opportunities every day to do something new, figure out a problem, and make a difference. I really feel that the work I do directly impacts Cambridge and the customer. And the people are great.”
“Passing out while working at the bench, falling off my lab chair and having to have Dr. Pfeifer drive me home."
Bonnie Finck
Laboratory Technician 3
Bonnie joined Cambridge in 2017. She has held lab tech and lab supervisor positions in the past, but her work as a microbiologist at South Dakota State University is what drew her into the animal health field. As a Lab Tech, Bonnie is responsible for running qPCR tests and making sure tests results are submitted in a timely fashion.
“I enjoy working in animal health and being able to work independently, part of my focus is to manage my time very efficiently so I can get customers their results as quickly as possible.”
"I like to shop and relax."
Cathe Smith
Laboratory Technician 3
Cathe joined Cambridge Technologies in 2017. She has a background in molecular biology, and past experience working with insect molecular genetics. In the Cambridge Diagnostics Laboratory Cathe performs a lot of next generation sequencing like metagenomics and multilocus sequence typing.
“I appreciate the good atmosphere here along with the chance to use my molecular biology experience, and opportunity to learn new things.”
"Watch bad and/or cheesy movies."
"Maintained a butterfly colony for a genetics lab as an undergrad."
Dr. Ben Hause
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Hause’s career has included positions in both industry and academia. Following completion of his MS degree from the University of Minnesota, he served as the Director of Diagnostic Services for Newport Laboratories while working toward his PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from South Dakota State University. After receiving his doctorate he pursued his research interests as an assistant professor at Kansas State University before returning to South Dakota State University as both an assistant professor and the section head of Virology. At Cambridge Technologies, he keeps the company on the leading edge of animal health solutions through his work in the discovery and characterization of emerging livestock viruses and development of vaccine countermeasures.
