Alpa Patel is a certified microbiologist and has been part of the medical device industry for 20 years specializing in cleaning/disinfection and sterilization of reusable medical devices, endoscopes and validation of tissue disinfection or sterilization processes. Her current role as a Director of Lab Operations (Healthcare Reprocessing) at Nelson Labs involves overseeing test method validations for reprocessing, writing standard test protocols (STP) and standard operating procedures (SOP) for reprocessing and other internal and globally related documents, providing technical consulting for the reprocessing sections at Nelson Labs in Salt Lake City and globally.
As a member and collaborator with the American Standard Test Methods (ASTM), American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and American Association of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), she plays an active role, in concert with the FDA and regulatory committees, in developing standards, collaborating and voting on changes to those standards.
