LabMind
Health, Fitness & Longevity
About
Join Dr. Jon Genzen, professor of pathology with the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah and chief medical officer at ARUP Laboratories, as he explores the people, ideas, and innovations that shape the clinical lab community.
Episodes
- Improving Diagnostics in Medicine
Paul Epner’s more than four-decade career started at Abbott Diagnostics and has involved collaboration with the CDC and a tenure as president of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA). He now serves as CEO of the Society to…
- The Power of Resilience
Change is the new constant—especially in clinical laboratories and healthcare organizations. In this episode of LabMind, Danny Diaz, senior director of Clinical Application Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, shares why res…
- Detecting G6PD Deficiency in Children
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is a genetic condition that can lead to life-threatening hemolysis in both children and adults. Early and accurate diagnosis is critical, but identifying G6PD deficiency in newborns and y…
- The LabMind Journey
After seven years and almost 100 episodes of LabMind recorded, Dr. Brian Jackson, former medical director at ARUP Laboratories and faculty with the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, has moved into a new clini…
- Resilience in Medicine and in Life
In 2016, Dr. Shaiba Ansari-Ali, a rheumatologist with Northwestern Medicine, experienced a near-fatal stroke that was followed by a misdiagnosed case of sepsis. In this interview, she explains how her positivity and tenacity were key to he…
- How Laboratory Data Can Empower Patients
As laboratory professionals, we’re often focused on our critical role as part of the healthcare team in delivering results to providers. But, do we ever stop and think about the power laboratory data can have in the hands of the patients t…
- The Central Role of Clinical Laboratories in Controlling Emerging Pathogens
Whenever a new infectious disease enters the scene (or reenters, as in the case of measles), developing precise and accurate diagnostic tests as quickly as possible is critical. In this interview, Dr. Ben Bradley, ARUP medical director of…
- The Art and Science of Creating a Clinical Guideline
In this age of algorithms, how do we ensure clinical care is both science based and personalized? In this interview, Dr. Ryan Metcalf, section chief of Transfusion Medicine at ARUP Laboratories and University of Utah Health and associate p…
- Diversity, Equity, and Personalized Medicine
Health equity and personalized medicine share a common goal: tailoring care to the needs of each individual. In this interview, Dr. Octavia Peck Palmer from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, immediate past president of ADLM, exp…
- Embracing the “Ignorome” To Expedite Clinical Science
After nearly dying from a mysterious disease during medical school, Dr. David Fajgenbaum dedicated his career to breaking down barriers in biomedical research. Fajgenbaum is now an associate professor of medicine at the University of Penns…
- The Laboratory Is a Mystery Machine of Diagnostics
Every specimen represents a potential mystery, and laboratory professionals often play the role of detectives. For the 2025 Lab Week episode of LabMind, Amanda Openshaw, a genetic counselor at ARUP, shares examples illustrating the importa…
- Why We Need Better Laboratory Tests for Dementia
Why hasn’t there been more progress in developing therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia? One reason has been the lack of specific laboratory tests that can properly diagnose and characterize these diseases. In thi…
- An Interview With Dr. Keith Elkins
As laboratory professionals, we may think we have a good understanding of how physicians use our services. But how often do we ask them for practical feedback? In this interview, family physician Dr. Keith Elkins shares his perspectives on…
- Regulating the Safety and Effectiveness of Clinical Laboratory Testing
Many people in the healthcare profession know that clinical laboratories are under more rigorous regulatory scrutiny than just about any other area of medicine. What they may not know is that the New York State Department of Health (NY DOH…
- Demystifying Data Analysis for the Clinical Lab
In this age of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, laboratory professionals might think they need to be experts in sophisticated new technology to glean insights from laboratory data. But as ARUP’s medical director…
- The Human Side of Pathology’s Digital Transformation
Anatomic pathology is on the verge of its biggest technologic shift in over a century. Making a smooth transition will require leadership to pay as much attention to the human impact as to the technology itself. In this discussion, Dr. Suz…
- Answering Your Questions About the FDA’s Final Rule on LDTs
As of September 2024, there remains enormous uncertainty about the FDA’s final rule on laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). Will it hold up in court? Which tests are subject to which requirements? How can laboratories best prepare? In this i…
- Creating a More Just, Effective, and Affordable Healthcare System
Fixing American healthcare will require more than mere tweaks around the edges. Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Boston-based Lown Institute, believes that it will require a return to medicine’s humanist roots. In this interview he descri…
- What ASCP's Youngest MLS Can Teach Us About Recruiting the Next Generation of Laboratory Scientists
Clinical laboratories offer great careers, but lack of awareness and other barriers can prevent excellent candidates from pursuing laboratory science professions. In this interview, Isak Schmidley, MLS(ASCP), explains how he first stumbled…
- Preventing Hereditary Cancer Through Genealogy
Most hereditary cancers, including those associated with BRCA1 mutations and Lynch syndrome, can be prevented through a combination of genetic testing, surveillance, and surgery. Yet only a small minority of eligible individuals currently…
- Bringing Pharmacogenomics Into Mainstream Clinical Practice
Due to genetic variation, patients metabolize and respond to medications in vastly different ways, so why do most drug therapy regimens continue to be one-size-fits-all? In this interview, Dr. Yuan Ji, ARUP’s section chief of Molecular Gen…
- Building a Professional Community for Laboratory Stewardship
Since its founding in 2013 at Seattle Children’s Hospital, PLUGS (Patient-Centered Laboratory Utilization Guidance Services) has brought together laboratory professionals, genetic counselors, clinicians, patients, and insurance companies a…
- What It Means for a Laboratory to Be Part of the Patient Care Team
Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, Vice Chair of Medicine at the University of Colorado, knows a lot about clinical laboratories. As an infectious disease physician and former cochair of Intermountain Healthcare’s laboratory stewardship committee, he ha…
- How Will Automation Change Clinical Laboratories?
There’s plenty of excitement around laboratory automation. But which tasks are good candidates for automation, and which are poor candidates? What risks need to be managed? And what are the implications of automation for lab professionals?…
- Solving Coagulation Mysteries One Patient at a Time
Diagnosis involves much more than a number on a lab report. This is particularly true when the patient has disordered bleeding or clotting. In this interview, Dr. Karen Moser from the University of Utah Department of Pathology describes so…
- The Human Side of Quality Management
What does it mean to have a quality culture? Technical competence and strict adherence to protocols are certainly part of the story. But so are factors such as workforce engagement and customer service. In this interview, Nancy Ross, assis…
- Why Quality Management Is Critical to the Long-Term Success of Healthcare AI
A public debate is raging around the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). One side argues that AI is potentially dangerous and needs to be carefully controlled, whereas the other side argues that any regulation would slow innovation…
- How FDA Restrictions on Laboratory-Developed Tests Will Harm Patients and Increase Costs
The FDA recently announced a plan to regulate laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) as medical devices. In this interview, Dr. Meghan Delaney from Children’s National Hospital and Dr. Eric Konnick from the University of Washington explain why…
- What the TRUU-Lab Initiative Has Taught Us About Laboratory Test Names
Dr. Ila Singh, chief of laboratory medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital, founded the Test Renaming for Understanding and Utilization in the Laboratory (TRUU-Lab) initiative several years ago to tackle challenges related to the nonstandard…
- Blunt Advice for Navigating a Career in Academic Medicine
Individuals pursue careers in academic medicine for many reasons. A love of organizational politics is rarely one of them, but faculty need to understand potential landmines if they are to avoid them. In this interview, Dr. Michael Cohen,…
- Sustainability in Healthcare Organizations
Sustainability is a hot topic for American corporations, and health systems are no exception. In this interview, Glen Garrick, system sustainability director for Intermountain Healthcare, explains how his and other healthcare organizations…
- Keys to Laboratory Success in the Next Pandemic
Three and a half years after the emergence of COVID-19 is a good time to reflect on the capabilities of U.S. laboratories to respond to future pandemics. In this interview, Dr. Marc Couturier, medical director of Emerging Public Health Cri…
- Optimizing Laboratory Testing for Autoimmune Neurologic Disease
Laboratory testing can either lead to the correct diagnosis or take a clinician down a blind alley, depending on how carefully the tests are selected and performed. In this interview, a practicing neurologist (Dr. Tammy Smith) and a clinic…
- Bridging the Cultural Divide Between Nursing and Laboratory Medicine
Nurses and laboratory professionals rely on each other to ensure accurate test results, but their relationships are sometimes challenging. As president of St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho, as well as a registered nurse with a d…
- Why Different Platforms Can Give Different Results for the Same Test, and What Can Be Done About It
Physicians and patients expect laboratory tests to produce the same results, regardless of where they are performed. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, even for FDA-approved assays. As the current chair of the College of American P…
- Lessons Learned From Automating a Hospital Laboratory
The key to successful clinical lab automation doesn’t lie in the instruments or the conveyor belt. It lies in clarifying what the organization most needs to improve (labor efficiency? turnaround time? reliability?) followed by optimizing t…
- What Laboratory Leaders Aren’t Discussing With Hospital Administrators, But Should Be
For her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Susan Edralin dove into the issue of communicating the value contribution of pathology and laboratory medicine to healthcare administrators. What she found in her conversations surprised her. In this inte…
- Understanding the U.S. Patent System
You know what a patent is, but do you know what’s patentable in the field of laboratory diagnostics? Or how patent law has changed over the years? In this interview, Dr. Bert Ley, a registered patent agent with decades of experience in the…
- Amplifying the Voice of the Patient
Within our current healthcare institutions, patients’ voices are often drowned out by the voices of providers, scientists, and industry. Andrea Downing’s life work is to fix this. As a BRCA1 cancer previvor and a patients’ rights activist,…
- ‘Think Different’ About Quality Control
To most laboratorians, quality control is all about rules, metrics, and thresholds. To Dr. Fred Strathmann, on the other hand, it’s about gaining understanding of the underlying processes. In this interview, he shares examples of ways to t…
- How to Create a More Welcoming Workplace for Women
ARUP Laboratories was recently recognized by Forbes Magazine as being among the country’s best workplaces for women. In this interview, ARUP’s president, Dr. Tracy George, explains how companies can create healthier models of work-life bal…
- A Legacy of Leadership in Clinical Pathology
The curricula of pathology and laboratory medicine training programs are heavily weighted toward technical and medical knowledge. In this interview, Dr. Wayne Chandler makes the case for more emphasis on leadership training, and he shares…
- A Sensible Approach to LDT Regulation
The VALID Act currently being debated in Congress would increase the regulatory burden on clinical laboratories. In this interview, Dr. David Grenache from TriCore Laboratories and the University of New Mexico, together with Dr. Vince Stin…
- Keys to Recruiting and Retention in a Tough Labor Market
In 2022, laboratory professionals have more choices about whom to work for and whether to even continue working in laboratory medicine. In this discussion, Stephanie Whitehead, MBA, MPH, MLS(ASCP), executive director of pathology and labor…
- An Organizational Strategy for Workplace Mental Health
Despite their explicit healthcare mission, clinical laboratories often fall short when it comes to employee mental health. Laboratory managers know how to troubleshoot an assay or write a procedure, but how many know how to support an empl…
- A Look Into the Future of Lab Medicine
How will lab testing be different a decade from now? Many answers are likely to be found in the numerous projects championed by the roughly 200 medical directors and scientists of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology.…
- Nudging Physicians Toward Better Use of Diagnostic Tests
Improving physicians’ use of laboratory tests is not usually a problem of motivation. They’re already motivated to deliver high-quality care to their patients. More often, it’s about choice architecture, i.e., making sure that correct choi…
- How Transgender Medicine Is Changing Laboratory Practices for the Better
The needs of transgender and nonbinary patients are compelling laboratories to reexamine historic practices in areas such as patient demographics, reference intervals, and terminology. In this discussion, Drs. Joely Straseski and Jenna Ryc…
- The Challenge of Newborn Drug Testing
Many hospitals test newborn babies for exposure to drugs of abuse. Although this sounds fairly straightforward, in practice it has been difficult to standardize testing protocols, let alone keep up with substance use trends. Compared with…
- Vision for Responsive Certification in Pathology
Many physicians see board certification as a one-time hurdle along their career pathway. Dr. Gary Procop, incoming CEO of the American Board of Pathology, sees it instead as a longitudinal partnership “to help make great pathologists, and…