John R. Hackett Jr.

Biography

 He received his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. John Hackett is divisional vice president of Applied Research and Technology for Abbott's diagnostics business. In this role, he manages diagnostics R&D in the areas of infectious diseases, oncology, cardiovascular, blood screening, biologics design and discovery, and clinical chemistry. John has several product patents to his name, having spent his career helping to keep Abbott one step ahead of these evolving viruses. He joined Abbott in 1992, was inducted into Abbott's Volwiler Society as an Associate Research Fellow in 1999, promoted to Research Fellow in 2005, and Senior Research Fellow in 2012.

Research Interest

 John is responsible for managing Abbott’s Global Surveillance Program, which was established two decades ago to detect and actively monitor emerging HIV and hepatitis strains around the world. The Surveillance Program houses more than 60,000 HIV and hepatitis specimens, making it one of the largest libraries in the world. If a new strain is discovered, Abbott’s scientists check that the current blood screening and diagnostic tests are able to detect it. John also manages a multi-year collaboration between Abbott and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center (VDDC). The VDDC uses deep sequencing and ultra-rapid pathogen identification technologies to identify and characterize novel human viruses – to help safeguard public health against these potential threats.