Dr. Robin Patel graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and from McGill University with a doctor of medicine. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowships in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at Mayo Clinic. She is the Elizabeth P. and Robert E. Allen Professor of Individualized Medicine, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Microbiology, Director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, and Co-Director of the Clinical Bacteriology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Patel is a Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology, the immediate Past President of the American Society for Microbiology, an associate editor for Clinical Infectious Diseases, and course director for the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine microbiology course. Her research focuses on clinical bacteriology diagnostic testing, antimicrobial resistance, and microbial biofilms.