Cited in over seventy-five thousand peer-reviewed publications worldwide, xMAP^®’s multiplexing technology continues to elevate scientific study around the globe with the invaluable speed, accuracy, and facility that multiplex testing provides. Our LuminexPLORE Lab helps labs across diverse areas of research access the advantages offered by multiplex technology through tailored custom assay services designed to meet each client’s specific needs.
Whether you need assistance with bead coupling or would like our scientists to design and validate an entire assay tailored to your needs, our multiplexing experts—experts like manager and scientist, Carrie Wittmer—are always available to help. Within our highly collaborative LuminexPLORE Lab team, Carrie’s responsibilities focus on providing clients with the best possible experience utilizing xMAP^® Technology. She joined Luminex in 2020 and holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in biochemistry as well as a master’s in biotechnology, all from California State University in San Marcos.

Q: What are your responsibilities at Luminex?

A: I work in the LuminexPLORE Lab, where I help clients develop assays to meet their needs. I also manage associate scientists on the team, helping them with assay design and project development. It’s a lot of fun to be in the LuminexPLORE Lab because we get to work with a lot of different clients, with projects ranging from vaccine development to serological assays. There’s a wide variety of skills that our team uses to help our clients.

Q: How did you get started on this career path?

A: I have always loved science and it was always something I wanted to go into. I was interested in forensics and research but landed in biotech to start, which gave me a great jumping-off point for future research positions. I have spent most of my career in in vivo research for metabolic and neurodegenerative disease, which I feel has given me great insight into our clients’ needs.

Q: What drew you to the company?

A: I was previously a Luminex customer in a lab in California. I was working with mice and dealing with very low sample volumes. I liked the fact that xMAP^® Technology let me look at many different markers at once without having to run several different ELISAs, thus allowing me to get more answers from the same amount of sample while saving time. I came out to Luminex to do training on bead coupling and loved the people here so much that when the opportunity came up to join them, I grabbed the chance. I was the second person to join the LuminexPLORE Lab after it was founded.

Q: How did xMAP Technology make a difference in your previous lab?

A: We were looking at cytokines, but we didn’t know which ones would be changing with our drug treatment. It was nice to be able to look at 36 cytokines at a time to see what was changing in the animal without having to run 36 ELISAs. It was a much more efficient and broader way of looking at these markers. We found some cytokines changing that we weren’t expecting, and we would not have been able to do that without a broad approach.

Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?

A: Neurodegenerative diseases. I’ve seen a few of my family members suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. It is truly a life-changing event, not only for the person with the disease but also for the people around them.

Q: If you weren’t working in biotech, where would you be?

A: I might have gone into psychology. The human mind is amazing and so intricate. I’ve always been fascinated [by] the way people develop emotionally and mentally.

Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?

A: Most people don’t know that I’m a huge fan of Renaissance fairs. I have a whole closet of clothes for them. The very first one I went to was with my aunt and uncle, and I didn’t really want to go. I felt dorky enough being a scientist without adding this to the list of dorky things I do! But within 10 minutes I fell in love with it. Everybody is so nice and it’s like a little escape from reality when things get crazy.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in Austin on the weekend?

A: Take our pontoon boat out. I love all the lakes here! Being from California, there aren’t many lakes you’re allowed to go in because many lakes are also reservoirs. Here, we can take the boat out and get away. My husband’s a huge fisherman, and I dabble. It’s wonderful how many opportunities there are to take your boat to a lake in the Austin area.

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