Dr. Saintedym Sandy Wills is an immunologist and serves as the Technical Director of Immunology Research and Development at LabCorp. In this role, she leads the design, development, and optimization of advanced diagnostic assays, with a focus on immunology and flow cytometry to support clinical and translational research.
Dr. Wills provides strategic and operational leadership across cross-functional teams, overseeing scientists in the development and validation of complex assays. She is recognized for fostering scientific rigor, and driving innovation within a commercial laboratory environment. Her work includes advancements in basophil activation testing, and immune profiling, with an emphasis on scalability, quality, and clinical impact.
She earned her PhD from Duke University, where her research focused on immune responses to HIV vaccine candidates. She completed a joint postdoctoral fellowship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and GlaxoSmithKline, where she advanced translation research towards an HIV cure. Dr. Wills has authored multiple publications and holds intellectual property in diagnostic innovation.
Driven by a belief that patients are at the center of every diagnostic decision, Dr. Wills is passionate about advancing equitable access to high-quality healthcare through innovation.
Outside of her professional work, she enjoys traveling, playing piano, and spending time with her family and friends.
Area of expertise: Allergy, Flow Cytometry, Immunology, Infectious Disease Immunology, Neurology
Publications:
- Automation and performance validation of the pooled donor basophil activation test for chronic urticaria using the Hamilton STAR system.
Jessica Chavez, Evan W. McConnell, Rogger Alcalde, Ajay Grover, D. Boles, Christopher M. Shuford, Russell P. Grant, André Valcour, Saintedym Wills
Journal of Immunological Methods, 1 December 2025
- PD-BAT: A novel approach of pooling basophil donors for expansion of commercial laboratory testing of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria.
Saintedym Wills, Jessica Chavez, Ajay Grover, Nathanael Beck, Michele Romano, Christina Bauer, Michael A Gerspach, Michael Schneider, André Valcour,
Journal of Immunological Methods, 1 April 2024
- Viral vector delivered immunogen focuses HIV-1 antibody specificity and increases durability of the circulating antibody recall response
PLoS Pathogens, 1 May 2023
- Systemic HIV and SIV latency reversal via non-canonical NF-κB signalling in vivo
Nature, 22 January 2020
- HIV-1 specific IgA Monoclonal Antibodies from an HIV-1 Vaccinee Mediate Galcer Blocking and Phagocytosis
Saintedym Wills, K. Hwang, ...Georgia Tomaras
Journal of Virology, 2018
- Randomized, Double-Blind Evaluation of Late Boost Strategies for HIV-Uninfected Vaccine Recipients in the RV144 HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trial
Journal of Infectious Disease, 15 April 2017
- Reversible Reprogramming of Circulating Memory T Follicular Helper Cell Function during Chronic HIV Infection
Journal of Immunology, 15 December 2015
- Identification of Influenza A Virus PB2 Residues Involved in Enhanced Polymerase Activity and Virus Growth in Mammalian Cells at Low Temperatures
Co first author* Tsuyoshi Hayashi*, Saintedym Wills*, Kendra A Bussey, T. Takimoto less
Journal of Virology, 27 May 2015