As agency director, Dr. Swinford is responsible for the executive operations of the agency, focusing on day-to-day management of the four laboratory locations. She also oversees the agency’s quality assurance program and provides leadership to TVMDL’s three resident directors, located at the agency’s other laboratory locations in Canyon, Center and Gonzales.
Dr. Swinford earned multiple degrees from the University of Illinois: two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree in veterinary pathobiology and a doctorate in veterinary medicine. She became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists in 1997, and in 2012 was elected to the organization’s board of governors. She began her veterinary career in Nebraska, where she worked at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Veterinary Diagnostic Center, held positions with two veterinary biopharmaceutical companies, and served in the United States Air Force Reserve as a public health officer. In 2005, Dr. Swinford was hired as the Bacteriology section head at TVMDL in College Station. She was promoted to branch chief in 2012, a position in which she oversaw the Bacteriology, Molecular Diagnostics, Serology and Virology sections.