Michael Towns, M.D.  

Vice President, WW Medical Affairs

BD Diagnostics - Diagnostic Systems

7 Loveton Circle

Sparks, MD  21152

Phone: 410-316-4310

Fax: 410-316-4041

Email: Michael_L_Towns@bd.com

Michael Towns, M.D. is the Vice President of Medical Affairs for BD Diagnostic Systems. Dr. Towns, a native of Texas, received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Microbiology from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. He has worked as a bench technologist in clinical microbiology and holds a Master of Medical Science degree in Clinical Microbiology from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He later joined the faculty in the Department of Pathology at Emory as an instructor in clinical microbiology and was in charge of research and development activities in the clinical microbiology laboratory. He subsequently entered Emory University School of Medicine where he completed his medical degree prior to internal medicine training at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. While at Duke he additionally completed fellowship training in both infectious diseases and medical microbiology (pathology). Following his academic training he entered private practice as a consultant in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology at the Harbin Clinic in Rome, GA. During this time he also served as director of infection control for one hospital, as well as a local home health care agency. Dr. Towns subsequently joined Becton Dickinson in 1996.

Dr. Towns oversees a large clinical research group based in Baltimore, MD that conduct clinical trials worldwide for BD Diagnostic System’s infectious disease diagnostic tests. He has extensive experience in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases, with a special interest in the clinical significance and detection of bloodstream infections, a topic on which he has lectured worldwide, as well as sepsis. In addition he has published a variety of scientific articles and has authored or co-authored chapters in several clinical textbooks. In addition to his responsibilities at BD, Dr. Towns is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Maryland Medical Center where he assists teaching infectious disease fellows.