Marisa C. Nielsen, PhD, D(ABMM)

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Marisa C. Nielsen received her B.S in Microbiology and her M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from University of Arizona. She spent nearly a decade working in clinical microbiology before pursuing a PhD at University of California, Irvine. Afterwards, she completed her Clinical Microbiology Fellowship at University of Texas, Medical Branch. She is a certified Specialist in Microbiology by the American Society for Clinical Pathology and a board-accredited Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology. Her interests include infectious diseases diagnostics and microscopy, with a specific focus on high-consequence pathogens, particularly those acquired from environmental exposures.

Currently, she is an Assistant Professor for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, the Director for Clinical Microbiology at Boston Medical Center, and holds a BU-BMC Cancer Center Faculty Appointment.

Publications

  • Published 3/19/2026

    Nielsen MC, Ren P, Kavuri SB, Culbreath K, Selvarangan R, Banerjee D, Buchan BW, Behounek R, Farhang J. High-throughput multiplex detection of respiratory pathogens: multicenter evaluation of the NxTAG Respiratory Pathogen Panel v2 assay. J Clin Microbiol. 2026 Apr 08; 64(4):e0174325. PMID: 41854425.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/1/2026

    Jiang, S., Manheim, Derek, Nielsen, M.C. . Threats of Cyanotoxins in a Changing Climate- A Review of Environmental Persistence and Health Effects. Urban Watershed Microbiology - Biodiversity Composition, Ecological Function, and Technological Advances. 2026.

  • Published 3/1/2025

    Nielsen MC. The Advancement of Infectious Diseases Diagnostics. Clin Lab Med. 2025 Mar; 45(1):xiii-xiv. PMID: 39892941.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/12/2024

    Nielsen MC, Miller NS. Epidemiology and Diagnosis of Lyme Disease in the United States. Clin Lab Med. 2025 Mar; 45(1):137-144. PMID: 39892932.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/1/2024

    Martins MF, Dauphinais MR, Tabackman A, Narasimhan PB, Nielsen MC, Miller NS, Sahay A, Namachivayam M, Janarthanan S, Palanivel C, Lakshminarayanan S, Koura KG, Sinha P. Clearing the air: microcosting the carbon impact of drug-susceptible pulmonary TB treatment. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2024 Oct 01; 28(10):488-493. PMID: 39334542.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 25 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Websites

Education

  • University of California, Irvine, PhD
  • University of Arizona, MS
  • University of Arizona, BS

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