ADVANCE Discourse: Lab Knowing Let’s forget about money for a second. I know that can be difficult – what, with all of those pesky adult responsibilities and everything, but bare with me.  If money wasn’t an object, and your physician wanted to order a test that you knew wouldn’t be covered under your insurance, would you get ...

The introduction of new drugs that combat disease and infection at the genetic level has been a landmark breakthrough, both for laboratory science as well as for patient treatment plans. Cell-based therapeutics, on the other hand, stand to become influential in the coming years. A recent story from Newswise reported cell therapy as the next ...

I remember when the Body Worlds Exhibit came to my local museum. I couldn’t believe it -- those were real people. My dad laughed when I told him about it and said, “That’s why you really have to read the fine print when you sign up to be an organ donor.” Being an organ donor, I was horrified. As genetic research continues and breakthroughs are ...

It’s hard enough to work in an environment where there’s some uncertainty—perhaps regarding job security, technology implementations and effects and the like. Today, however, there’s monumental vagueness or doubts on a host of issues directly impacting healthcare, including the Budget Control Act, sustainable growth rates (SGR), bundled payments, ...

If you could have your genome sequenced and unlock all of the secrets your DNA holds, would you? I asked that question of Dr. Robert Daber, technical director of Clinical Genomics at the Center for Personalized Diagnostics, and Dr. Jennifer Morrissette, scientific director of the Cytogenics Lab and director of the Center for Personalized ...

At COLA, we’re all part of the same work community. Together we help promote patient safety by promoting lab excellence. Considering that lab testing impacts more than 70 percent of diagnostic decisions, the COLA community’s efforts impact a lot of people. Individually, however, we are all part of two other communities: The lab community in ...

Case studies, best practices, lessons learned, written material, guidelines, how-to manuals, technical explanations—those are the types of articles and documents we are looking to publish in print and online. It’s a great time to get published to really polish your résumé or curriculum vitae. Specifically, we are seeking articles on improving ...