Our Team

Meet the TriCore Research Institute Team

Trailblazing in medicine requires dedicated specialists to lead the way. The same goes for laboratory experts supporting the people who are pioneering medical advancements. The people of TriCore Research Institute have the knowledge, experience, and passion to help you innovate a better tomorrow.

David G. Grenache, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

david.grenache@tricore.org

Over 30 years of experience in all phases of diagnostic laboratory medicine
Responsible for strategic oversight of TriCore’s portfolio of scientific projects

David Grenache, PhD, D(ABCC), MT(ASCP) is the Chief Scientific Officer for TriCore, a regional clinical laboratory. He is responsible for strategic oversight of TriCore’s portfolio of scientific research projects and its globally recognized TriCore Research Institute. He works cooperatively to develop and implement an enterprise-wide scientific research strategy and create processes that steer clinical trials to successful completion.

Dr. Grenache has over 30 years’ experience in all phases of the clinical laboratory diagnostic testing process. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and completed his postdoctoral training in clinical chemistry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is board certified in clinical chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and is a fellow in the Academy of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Dr. Grenache is a Clinical Professor of Pathology at the University of New Mexico. He has served in numerous leadership roles for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, most notably as its president from 2021 to 2022. His clinical interests are focused on the use of laboratory data to gain insights into population health and reproductive biochemistry.

Eric Carbonneau

Chief Operating Officer

eric.carbonneau@tricore.org

Close to 30 years’ experience in laboratory operations
Responsible for TriCore’s and TriCore Research Institute’s laboratory operations

Eric Carbonneau, Chief Operating Officer, leads all of TriCore’s Laboratories, the Research Institute, Patient Care Centers, Client Relations, and Information Technology divisions. Mr. Carbonneau inspires and facilitates excellence by providing the vision, leadership, and innovation necessary to ensure operational controls, administrative procedures, and personnel are in place to effectively grow the enterprise.

Affiliated with TriCore for over 25 years, he recently served as Director of TriCore’s Reference Laboratory, helping to establish the TriCore Research Institute in 2015. Other roles include multiple leadership positions within TriCore’s hospital laboratories. Mr. Carbonneau received his Medical Lab Scientist degree from the University of New Mexico and holds a master’s degree in health systems from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

He is a Board Member of the Compass Group Laboratory Leaders, a Board Member of the National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA), and a member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). He is a graduate and active member of Leadership New Mexico and has an interest in mentoring leaders. While focusing on engaging employees to drive excellence in patient care, he is a proponent of Lean Six Sigma, a fact-based, data-driven philosophy of improvement which values prevention over defect detection.

Veronica I. Luzzi, PhD D(ABCC)

Section Chief and Medical Director

veronica.luzzi@tricore.org

Over 20 years’ experience in laboratory medicine and clinical research
Responsible for promoting and delivering quality research, encouraging collaborations, and expanding TRI business diversification

Veronica I. Luzzi, PhD, PhD D(ABCC), is the Section Chief and Medical Director for TriCore Research Institute (TRI). She is responsible for providing a centralized infrastructure to promote quality research, ensure fiscal and regulatory compliance, encourage collaborations, and expand TRI business diversification.

Prior to TRI, Dr. Luzzi was a medical director for various laboratories for over 20 years. In March 2000, Dr. Luzzi obtained a PhD in Biology at the University of California, Irvine, in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. She completed her training in 2003 in clinical chemistry in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Luzzi is a diplomat of the American Board in Clinical Chemistry and is a fellow of the Academy in Clinical Biochemistry.

She also holds an adjunct appointment at the University of New Mexico where she teaches Clinical Chemistry to pathology residents. She volunteers her time working for the Global Lab Quality Initiative of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and is currently the chair for the Latin-American Working group.

Sandra Kindig

Director, Lab Operations

sandra.kindig@tricore.org

More than 20 years’ experience in device and clinical trials
Directs the operational team and procures the adequate resources for successful completion of contracts for all TRI business lines

Sandra Kindig is the Director, Lab Operations for TriCore Research Institute. She is responsible for its operations, which are the Clinical Trials, Biorepository and Central Lab Services Departments. TRI operations has close to 50 employees, including five supervisors, research and biorepository coordinators, lab assistants, clinical lab technicians and medical lab scientists. TRI manages over 175 collection studies, and over 100 device and clinical trials each year.

Ms. Kindig received three bachelor’s degrees in Medical Laboratory Sciences, Biology and Spanish from the University of New Mexico (UNM). She also has an MBA in Leadership from UNM’s Anderson School of Management. In 2002, Ms. Kindig began her career at Tricore as an ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Scientist. She was promoted to Research Coordinator in 2013. She rose through the ranks as a Research Scientist, a Manager of Clinical Trials, and is now in her current position as Director of Research & Clinical Trials.

Ms. Kindig has an interest in developing leaders to positively impact organizational culture. She is part of the group Albuquerque Women in Business for Good that builds connections and supports local non-profit organizations.

Stephen Young, PhD

Medical Director

steve.young@tricore.org

Over 40 years of academic and device trials experience with focus in infectious diseases
Responsible for the successful completion of device trials under his directive and generates new business opportunities

Stephen Young, PhD D(ABMM), is a Medical Director for TriCore Research Institute’s Research and Clinical Trials Department. He is currently the Principal Investigator on 40 FDA clinical trials, primarily for SARS-CoV-2 EUA detection assays. Although most of the SARS-CoV-2 trials are still EUA, recent trials are switching to multiplex respiratory virus detection. In the last few years, the Device Trials team has completed over 150 trials, despite minimal IVD experience, continual supply chain issues and hurried timelines.

Prior to becoming the Medical Director at TRI in 2015, Dr. Young was the Scientific Director of the Infectious Disease section at TriCore Reference Laboratories for 17 years. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from Wright State University and his PhD from the University of New Mexico (UNM). He completed an American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM) post-doctoral fellowship program at the University of Washington. Dr. Young has been a diplomat of the American Board of Medical Microbiology for the last 21 years and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Young is an Emeritus Professor in Pathology at UNM. For ten years he received funding from Sandia National Laboratories on the development of long-range sensors for biodefense. He has been a collaborator for 25 years in the Multi-Center AIDS Cohort Study, along with NIH grants affiliated with this cohort.

Jesse Young, PhD

Medical Director

jesse.young@tricore.org

Expertise in infectious diseases, next generation sequencing, and state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic methods
Oversees newer projects, provides feedback on method validation verification, and is responsible as a principal investigator of the successful completion of device clinical trials

Jesse Young, PhD is a Medical Director for TriCore Research Institute’s Research and Clinical Trials Department. He is responsible for promoting quality and ensuring fiscal and regulatory compliance for TRI’s research and diagnostic device trial partners. He produces scholarly works by publishing in peer-reviewed journals and abstracts, and presents at scientific and clinical conferences.

Dr. Young has ten years’ experience in infectious disease, including two years at TRI’s Clinical Device Trials. He graduated with a PhD from the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine.

While pursuing his PhD, he was broadly focused on Human Papillomavirus Entry and Uptake in Dr. Michelle Ozbun's lab. During his post doctorate in Dr. Darrell Dinwiddie’s lab at UNM, Dr. Young participated in the NIH SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance Collaborative between UNM, TriCore, and the New Mexico State Scientific Laboratory Division performing sequencing on SARS-CoV-2 variants. He was directly involved in the identification of the Omicron variant in New Mexico.

TriCore Research Institute’s Leadership Team is backed by over 50 people, including principal investigators, research and biorepository coordinators, lab assistants, clinical lab technicians and medical lab scientists. The team manages over 175 collection studies and over 100 device and clinical trials each year. They have the knowledge and resources to steer your studies and trials to successful completion.

We’re always on the lookout for passionate and talented individuals devoted to advancements in healthcare research and science.

Learn More About a Career at TriCore