Barbara Zehentner

Vice President of Molecular Laboratory Operations, Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp.

Barbara Zehentner is passionate about the best clinical science for patients as well as the best leadership practices for the Adaptive Biotechnologies teams. Her has been driven by implementing cutting-edge technologies and providing high-quality laboratory results to our patients and their providers.

Barbara’s master’s and engineering degrees in biotechnology were received from the University of Applied Sciences (FH) in Weihenstephan, Germany, and my PhD in molecular biology from the University RWTH in Aachen, Germany  (summa cum laude). She has been certified as a high-complexity clinical laboratory director (HCLD) through the American Board of Bioanalysis in Molecular Diagnostics since 2008. In 2020, I received my master’s in business administration (MBA) through a WGU program for working professionals.

Barbara has more than 25 years of experience in molecular diagnostics and assay development, previously working for Boehringer Mannheim (Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), and Roche Diagnostics (Germany) as well as for Corixa Corporation (Seattle, WA). During her 17-year leadership tenure at HematoLogics (Seattle, WA), serving as laboratory director as well as managing partner for the organization, Barbara has established and grown clinical laboratory operations offering comprehensive molecular analysis, FISH, and cytogenetic testing services to complement flow cytometric analysis for diagnosing and monitoring hematopoietic malignancies.

To continue her clinical laboratory leadership journey, Barbara joined Adaptive Biotechnologies (Seattle, WA) in 2021 as vice president of molecular laboratory operations) to direct a multi-level production team and high-throughput processing facilities for Next-generation sequencing [NGS].