The the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC) Edwin F. Ullman Award for Technology Innovation
Dr. Mimms is chief scientific officer at Prometheus Labs in San Diego. He also teaches a course on in vitro diagnostic product development at the University of California San Diego extension. Previously, he headed product development for Human Longevity Inc. From 2009 to 2014, Dr. Mimms was vice president for research and development at Quidel Corp., a world leader in the development of rapid point-of-care tests. Prior to that, Dr. Mimms founded VDx LLC in 2008 to develop point-of-care HIV diagnostic tests. From 1994 to 2007, he held a number of executive positions at Gen-Probe, including executive vice president for research and development, vice president for development, and vice president for strategic planning. Dr. Mimms led Gen-Probe’s blood bank program, which featured research funded by the National Institutes of Health to develop blood screening assays to detect HIV and HCV nucleic acid. This work led to Food and Drug Administration approval of many tests, including the Procleix HIV-1/HCV, Ultrio HIV-1/HCV/HBV assay, and Procleix West Nile virus assay. Gen-Probe won the 2004 National Medal of Technology, the highest U.S. honor for technological innovation, for the development and commercialization of new blood testing technologies for the direct detection of viral diseases. Before joining Gen-Probe, Dr. Mimms held various positions at Abbott Laboratories. He served as a member of the research and development panel of the American Red Cross from 2006–2007.