Russell Thomas is the Product Marketing and Sales Manager at Biotia, where they lead marketing efforts for the company's clinical metagenomic-based diagnostic test for recurrent, complicated, and culture-negative urinary tract infections, the BIOTIA-ID Urine Test.

Russell has worked in a wide variety of public health settings, including street-based harm reduction, health education and promotion, as well as program implementation for diagnostic testing services. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Russell implemented and operated a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance testing site for a Los Angeles nonprofit organization, providing pooled testing services for over 300 students, staff, and their families each week to prevent disruptions to the organization's childcare services. Following this, Russell continued working in infectious disease diagnostics at the Yale School of Public Health, investigating the utility of saliva as a sample type for other respiratory pathogens as well as sexually transmitted infections.

With a background in infectious disease epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and undergraduate degrees in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and American Studies from the University of California, Davis, Russell brings an interdisciplinary background to infectious disease diagnostics that centers community-based health and advocacy informed by rigorous science. This advocacy work has been highlighted by various institutions, including the American Society for Microbiology.