Media Coverage

To explore what the next year may hold, MLO spoke with 12 laboratory professionals whose roles span bench operations, laboratory quality, enterprise leadership, diagnostics innovation, and health-tech entrepreneurship. Their predictions reflect both optimism and urgency: calls to rebuild the workforce pipeline, integrate multi-site networks, strengthen clinical collaboration, modernize infrastructure, and streamline the process of test result to clinical action. Yuri Fesko, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Quest Diagnostics: "Laboratories across the United States will need to continue being agile and flexible to meet demands from patients, providers, and health systems. That is particularly true in areas like preventive health and wellness, where growth of alternative, consumer-driven models of care will force traditional healthcare providers to be more innovative, dynamic, and user-friendly, allowing patients to interact with this new and growing system closer to home through lab networks like Quest Diagnostics."

Only approximately one-third of US adults diagnosed with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection received treatment from 2014 to 2021, despite the widespread availability of curative therapies, according to study results published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis. The US has the fifth highest burden of HCV worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to eliminate HCV in 2030 by diagnosing at least 90% and treating at least 80% of individuals infected with HCV. Investigators analyzed deidentified data from 2 large commercial laboratories: LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics.

Self-collection for HPV and other infections offers a more convenient, private way to complete recommended screenings—helping reach women who might otherwise delay or skip care. By D. Alagia III, MD, MS, MBA, FACS, FACOG, Quest Diagnostics

Oncologists face a difficult decision after surgically removing a solid tumor. Some patients harbor residual cancer cells, known as minimal residual disease (MRD), and need additional therapy to avoid recurrence, while others are already cured. Determining who falls into each group remains a major challenge in cancer care. “One of the challenges facing ctDNA technologies is, how do we identify ctDNA molecules that are very low abundance in circulation with high accuracy?” said Dan Edelstein, the vice president and general manager of Haystack Oncology at Quest Diagnostics®. Recognizing the need to detect ctDNA reliably, Haystack Oncology developed Haystack MRD®, a next-generation workflow for ultrasensitive residual disease monitoring.

Social media is flooded with ads for at-home blood testing services that promise insights into healthier living, so ABC News' Becky Worley tried one to see what the results really reveal. Becky recieved her blood draw at Quest's patient service center in Oakland, California.

A cancer treatment laboratory in Lewisville made a medical breakthrough that could decrease the risk of the disease returning after a patient has been treated. After somebody has been treated for a cancerous tumor, very small amounts of disease may remain in the body, which traditional tests may miss. Quest Diagnostics, headquartered in Lewisville, has created a new blood test that can identify tiny bits of cancer post-treatment. Currently, Lewisville’s Quest Diagnostics laboratory is the only lab in the country that processes this test for patients and doctors nationwide.

Quest Diagnostics-owned liquid biopsy developer Haystack Oncology is expecting in the next year to bring a new wealth of data supporting the ability of its circulating tumor DNA technology for use in minimal/molecular residual disease (MRD) detection across a variety of indications, especially those where its higher sensitivity may give it a boost over other technologies.

During a talk at the Jefferies Healthcare Services Conference this week, Quest Diagnostics CFO Sam Samad noted developments within several parts of the company's advanced testing business and highlighted blood-based Alzheimer's testing as a particularly strong growth area.

Guardant Health and Quest Diagnostics will collaborate to offer Guardant’s Shield blood-based colorectal cancer test through Quest’s distribution network, the companies said Wednesday. Physicians will be able to order the test through their Quest accounts and electronic health record starting in the first quarter of 2026.

Overall rates of HIV drug resistance declined by nearly 17% between 2018 and 2024, according to a large analysis from Quest Diagnostics published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The researchers assessed the prevalence of mutations that confer resistance to nucleoside/nucleotide reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors and integrase inhibitors.

Quest Diagnostics has struck a deal to use healthcare software firm Epic Systems' suite of enterprise laboratory software and services, the companies said on Tuesday. Under the agreement, Epic's enterprise offerings — including its Aura specialty lab data exchange system, its Beaker lab information system, and its MyChart patient health record portal — will be implemented across Quest's national lab operations.

The collaboration will allow wearable device users to order clinical tests, schedule appointments, and receive results through the WHOOP mobile application. WHOOP announced that Quest Diagnostics will serve as the US lab provider for WHOOP Advanced Labs, a new feature that will integrate clinical laboratory testing into the wearable device company’s mobile application.

Quest Diagnostics-owned liquid biopsy developer Haystack Oncology is expecting in the next year to bring a new wealth of data supporting the ability of its circulating tumor DNA technology for use in minimal/molecular residual disease (MRD) detection across a variety of indications, especially those where its higher sensitivity may give it a boost over other technologies.

The relationship between Quest Diagnostics and Hackensack Meridian Health is taking another test. For the last four years, the Secaucus-based lab services provider has managed laboratory operations and performed reference testing for 11 hospitals in the Edison-headquartered health care network. Quest recently deepened that collaboration by opening its 250,000-square-foot next-generation flagship laboratory in Clifton to give students at Hackensack Meridian Health’s School of Medicine a behind-the-scenes look at clinical lab work.

Quest Diagnostics has launched a pharmacogenomic (PGx) laboratory test service designed to help healthcare providers understand individual genetic responses to select drug therapies and optimize medication selection and dosing decisions.

New research by Quest Diagnostics suggests that more and more U.S. workers are using the powerful synthetic opioid drug fentanyl, since it’s showing up in random drug tests carried out in workplaces across the country. This bleak news might not be too surprising, given the dramatic speed with which the drug has affected a population that remains plagued by opioid addiction.

Quest Diagnostics has introduced a new pharmacogenomic (PGx) laboratory testing service designed to assist healthcare providers in understanding their patients’ genetic responses to specific medications. This service is intended to support clinicians in selecting appropriate drugs and determining optimal dosages.

More Americans are testing positive for fentanyl use in randomized workplace drug tests, highlighting a persistent challenge for employers. The positive rate for urine tests indicating the presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl was 1.13% in 2024. That is up from 0.91% in 2023 and double the rate in 2020, according to a recent analysis of more than eight million drug tests by Quest Diagnostics, one of the U.S.’s largest drug-testing labs.

Jeff Lusby is the general manager of healthcare IT solutions at Quest Diagnostics. With more than 29 years in healthcare IT, Lusby has extensive experience with technology implementations, from the sales journey to installation, support and account management. In his current role, he leads Quest’s Quanum Enterprise Content Solutions software business.

Corewell Health has signed on to a joint venture with Quest Diagnostics covering inpatient and outpatient lab management and the construction of a new 100,000-square-foot advanced lab facility.

Independent laboratory company Quest Diagnostics and Corewell Health entered a definitive agreement to build a jointly owned lab in Michigan. The Diagnostic Lab of Michigan would be based at the Corewell Health Southfield Center in Southfield, Michigan. It would focus on automated microbiology and high-throughput molecular testing.

Quest Diagnostics said on Monday the US Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough device designation for the firm's Haystack minimal residual disease (MRD) test. The tumor-informed, whole-exome sequencing assay detects circulating tumor DNA in blood to identify MRD-positive patients with stage II colorectal cancer who have received curative-intent surgical treatment and may benefit from adjuvant therapy. Quest acquired the test when it bought Haystack Oncology in 2023.

Quest Diagnostics, a provider of diagnostic information services, has been scaling its efforts in the digital pathology space through an ongoing collaboration with PathAI. “Beyond assisting the pathologist in looking at and identifying problem areas on the slide, there are a lot of AI tools that can help the pathologist become more efficient and work more quickly,” said Chad Richards, president of pathology and medical services at Quest Diagnostics.

Quest Diagnostics has completed its acquisition of some clinical testing assets from Spectra Laboratories, a subsidiary of dialysis company Fresenius Medical Care.

During Quest Diagnostics' most recent investor day presentation, President and CEO Jim Davis highlighted the sale of data and data analytics as among the fastest growing businesses within the company. As at Tricore, part of this effort is focused not only on identifying but closing patient care gaps, said David Freeman, VP and general manager of healthcare analytics solutions at the company. Using data generated by a lab, "A health plan can create a standing order for a lab test for a particular patient based on closing a gap in care," he said. If the patient then shows up at a Quest location for another service, "and that standing order exists, we can add that test and close that gap," he said.

A new Quest Diagnostics Lab has opened inside a CVS Pharmacy store in Johnston. Company officials gathered at the Putnam Pike store on Friday morning to celebrate its opening, which took place earlier this month. “This lab opened on July 11, and it is the first Quest Diagnostic Lab in Rhode Island and only the second in the nation,” said CVS Pharmacy Senior Vice President, Store and Pharmacy Operations, Jared Tancrelle.

Quest Diagnostics has launched a new PCR-based diagnostic test for the Oropouche virus, enhancing U.S. preparedness for this emerging tropical disease spreading in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Blood-based biomarker tests are revolutionizing the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease by enabling earlier, faster, and more accessible detection—helping overcome long-standing diagnostic delays, underdiagnosis, and resource constraints. Michael Racke, MD, medical director for neurology at Quest Diagnostics, says that as recently as the 1980s, the telltale plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s found in the brain could only be detected postmortem, and since there was no treatment, diagnosing the disease wasn’t as critical at the time. Now, tests can detect the disease while the patient is alive, offering a chance at diagnosis and treatment.

It's important to note that anything can be toxic in a certain amount, says Jack Kain, PharmD, director of medical affairs and medical science liaison of drug monitoring and toxicology at Quest Diagnostics. Toxicologists measure toxic amounts in a few different ways. “There's an old saying in toxicology, ‘the dose makes the poison,’ which implies, if you take too much of almost anything, even something as simple as water, it can be toxic,” Dr. Kain says. A high dose of some toxins is necessary to be harmful, while small doses of other toxins can be dangerous.

Quest Diagnostics has signed up to offer a blood test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, following its FDA clearance earlier this year. Developed by Fujirebio, the Lumipulse G test measures the ratio between specific tau and beta amyloid proteins found in the bloodstream to identify patients likely to have plaque buildups in the brain without requiring them to undergo brain scans or spinal tap procedures.

At the ongoing ASM Microbe 2025, Meghan Starolis, PhD, senior science director of Infectious Diseases at the Quest Diagnostics’ Nichols Institute discussed her presentation, Conquering Antiviral Drug Resistance Via Novel Antivirals & New Testing Methods for Drug Resistance, which looked at genotypic and phenotypic testing and some of the benefits and challenges for each.

Quest Diagnostics will work on a blood test for cancer risk it says may help identify people who could benefit from more frequent screenings using technology developed at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dubbed the multi-cancer stratification test, or MCaST, Quest said it has licensed the center’s liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry approach to help build its own offering, which will aim to capture protein biomarkers circulating in the bloodstream that are associated with elevated risks for several different tumors.

Alex Louis, senior vice president of enterprise operations and operational excellence at Quest Diagnostics, shares more on how thoughtful planning is essential for successful automation implementation as clinical labs face growing pressure. Clinical laboratories in the US have long operated under significant pressure and challenges, and these have only intensified in recent times. Many laboratory leaders are now facing issues around workflow, staffing, and productivity. Improving the patient and customer experience is also a growing concern, so how can clinical laboratory leaders address these challenges quickly and smoothly?

Although nearly half of Americans know their streaming platform passwords by heart, only 19% are aware of what their cholesterol score is, according to new data from Quest Diagnostics. As part of its second “Know Your Health” survey, the Secaucus-based testing provider explored what perceptions and priorities adults have for their well-being in 2025. After surveying nearly 2,100 individuals, Quest found that 92% of respondents want to take a more active role in their health care journey. However, many said they face obstacles to receiving care, their doctors do not focus enough on preventive care discussions or have gaps in knowledge on important personal health information.

A new report reveals oncologists are seeing more advanced cancer cases due to screening barriers and are concerned current tests aren’t effective enough for early detection of recurrence. Takeaways: Screening barriers are seen as the leading cause of late-stage cancer diagnoses; Oncologists express concern that current monitoring tools may not detect cancer recurrence early; ctDNA MRD tests, like Quest’s new Haystack MRD, show promise in improving post-treatment cancer surveillance.

For decades now, consolidation has been one of the major trends in the clinical laboratory market as major players have grown their businesses through the acquisition of smaller independent and hospital labs. While much of this action has focused on the US market, these firms are looking internationally, as well, striking a number of recent deals to expand their footprints abroad. Last year, for instance, Quest acquired Canadian laboratory firm LifeLabs for roughly $985 million, giving the company a major presence in that country. Karthik Kuppusamy, senior VP of clinical solutions at Quest, said the firm sees opportunities to expand the LifeLabs business by moving into provinces not currently served by the company, winning business currently being done by hospital labs, and introducing new advanced diagnostics into the market.

Quest Diagnostics has introduced a new blood test aimed at assisting physicians in confirming amyloid brain pathology related to Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. The test, known as AD-Detect Abeta 42/40 and p-tau217 Evaluation, is said to combine amyloid beta (AB) 42/40 blood level outcomes, which are determined by Quest’s tandem mass spectrometry techniques with p-tau217 blood levels as measured by an in vitro immunoassay.

Quest Diagnostics has launched a new solution to enhance access to human papillomavirus (HPV) screening, enabling women to identify their risk of cervical cancer. The new offering includes a self-collection option, allowing patients to collect their own specimens for HPV screening in clinical settings. Starting next month, Quest Diagnostics will introduce this self-collection option at its 2,000 patient service centres across the United States, with a physician’s order.

The new Quest Diagnostics on Idaho Street in downtown Elko is the company's first foray into Northern Nevada east of Reno, an expansion prompted by a new contract with a major insurer in the region. The lab, at 1074 Idaho St., will have two phlebotomists when fully staffed and expects to draw blood from between 40 to 50 patients a day once operations get fully underway, according to Leanne Delgadillo, sales director for parts of California and Nevada.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began on March 15, 2020, reshaped healthcare, diagnostics, and public health preparedness, leaving lasting impacts on the industry. The increased public perception of clinical diagnostics has certainly been a silver lining. But it has also exposed ongoing challenges the industry was already coping with—adding additional pressure. “With an aging population, an increase in chronic diseases and delays in care due to the pandemic, the demand for diagnostic testing is on the rise. However, the current workforce is not growing at a pace that can keep up with this demand. Furthermore, there is a shortage of skilled professionals, particularly in specialized areas of laboratory medicine. So, one of the biggest challenges facing the laboratory industry will be staffing and a skilled workforce pipeline,” notes Elizabeth Marlowe, PhD, executive scientific director at Quest Diagnostics.

More than half of respondents in a recent KPMG survey said they expect AI to change the nature of their business, while nearly 70% plan to invest as much as $250 million in generative AI tools, up from 45% in 2024. Those investments require some risk-taking, but also hard analysis and alignment between finance and IT. Getting to that alignment can be tricky. At Quest Diagnostics, a New Jersey-based medical-testing firm, CFO Sam Samad and CIO Murali Balakumar try to avoid some of these issues by embedding managers in each other’s team. “I’ve got someone who’s reporting to Sam, but who is in all of my meetings,” Balakumar said. Finance has a similar representative in the CIO’s office, he said.

Quest Diagnostics announced it is teaming up with Google Cloud to develop artificial intelligence programs that can personally respond to patients, providers and other customers. That includes generative AI applications that could “connect employees and customers with enterprise-wide knowledge,” the clinical testing giant said in a statement, in addition to helping patients receive insights from their own lab results.

What did you learn from running a business during the pandemic that you apply to your operations today? James Davis, chair and CEO, Quest Diagnostics: Quest played a critical role supporting the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with our high-quality molecular diagnostic and serology antibody testing. While the team scaled COVID-19 testing capacity in record time, the experience revealed the value of partnerships with public health and other groups to anticipate and prepare for threats in advance. We recently put this lesson to work through a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention preparedness arrangement, which enabled us to launch the nation’s first commercial H5 avian flu test late last year.

Quest Diagnostics plans to buy select assets of Fresenius Medical Care’s laboratory testing services business Spectra Laboratories for an undisclosed amount. The sale fits in with Fresenius' goal of divesting non-core, lower-margin assets, CEO Helen Giza said Tuesday during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, the company said in a news release.

Forever chemicals, PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), endocrine disruptors, microplastics: These modern-day pollutants and man-made chemicals designed for durability are seemingly everywhere. They’re in food, water, everyday products (think: plastic or clothes), indoor and outdoor air, and – as their adverse health effects become more and more evident – they’re all over the news. Still stressed? Ask your health care provider for a “body burden” test (usually a blood test); Quest Diagnostics has a PFAS test panel.

Cleveland-based University Hospitals has completed the sale of select assets of its outreach laboratory services business to Quest Diagnostics. Under the agreement, Quest's labs in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Pittsburgh will handle testing for UH providers and patients who use Quest's lab services, according to a Jan. 27 news release. UH will continue to offer inpatient and select outpatient testing through its hospital-based labs. UH and Quest announced a definitive agreement in August.

Quest Diagnostics named Adrienne Brott its SVP and chief quality and regulatory affairs officer. She will oversee the firm's quality and regulatory strategy, as well as its efforts complying with US and global regulations and industry standards.

Meghan W. Starolis, MS, PhD, HCLD(ABB), Senior Science Director of Infectious Disease at Quest Diagnostics, explains how can laboratory professionals can ensure they are staying on top of testing, diagnosis, and treatment for respiratory illnesses that are growing in prevalence even before the traditional ‘cold and flu’ season.

Mainz Biomed has announced that it has made an agreement with Quest Diagnostics in which Quest will support the commercialization of Mainz Biomed's next-generation ColoAlert colorectal cancer (CRC) screening test. Under the terms of the agreement, Quest will provide clinical trial laboratory services for Mainz Biomeds’ ReconAAsense study, a prospective clinical study that includes approximately 15,000 subjects from 150 sites across the U.S. intended to provide data in support of the test’s submission for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, Mainz said in a statement.

If you’ve had any medical tests over the past few decades, chances are you have encountered Quest Diagnostics. The Secaucus-based laboratory testing company boasts that it serves one-third of all Americans and works with half of the physicians and hospitals around the country.