Quest Community Action Network (QuestCAN) – Volunteer Spotlights
Quest Community Action Network (QuestCAN) – Volunteer Spotlight Francesca Harris Employee Engagement Specialist, Marlborough MA Local QuestCAN Co-Lead – Esoteric My name is Francesca Harris and I am the Employee Engagement Specialist supporting 3 of our Esoteric labs at Quest: Athena Diagnostics, ReproSource, and Cleveland HeartLab. I have been a member of QuestCAN for 5 […]
What’s in a Name? Classifying Variants in Our Genetic Code
The question: What does this report mean? You are treating a patient you think has cystic fibrosis. You order full genetic sequencing for the gene that causes cystic fibrosis (CFTR), and the report reads: two variants identified, one “pathogenic” and one “variant of uncertain significance.” What does this mean? Does your patient have cystic fibrosis? […]
Genetic Counselor poster presentations in 2020: the research goes on.
During 2020, so many aspects of medical education and research changed because of the pandemic. Conferences adjusted and went virtual but still needed to continue to promote research and support continuing education. Genetic counselors with Genomic Services led and presented several projects at various meetings throughout 2020 and we would like to provide a summary […]
Perfect Score Five Years in a Row
Quest Diagnostics has been named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality by scoring a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the fifth consecutive year. We are proud to be counted among a growing community of leading companies that are committed to creating an inclusive work […]
To Test or Not to Test. When Cancer Runs in my Family.
Maybe you have lived through a cancer diagnosis with a close family member, just heard about a relative with some type of cancer, or you are just curious about your chance of having a hereditary cancer syndrome. In any case, you are wondering if you should be thinking about genetic testing. Now what? “Genetic testing” […]
Decisions, Decisions. Noninvasive Prenatal Testing OR Maternal Serum Screening OR both OR neither?
When noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) first became a reality nearly a decade ago, many involved in the care of pregnant women (clinicians and laboratorians alike) saw it as a game-changer. They thought the standard screening option for chromosomal abnormalities, maternal serum screening (MSS), would soon be obsolete. NIPT is a powerful test for Down syndrome […]
ourPeople Stories: Quest’s Yammer helps make a lifesaving match
Neil Barbot has been a Cytotechnologist at Quest Diagnostics for more than 30 years. In 2019, he learned his 36-year-old son Steven needed an emergency kidney transplant. A renal cell carcinoma condition had severely damaged his kidneys. The Quest community wound up being his last chance at finding a donor to save his son’s life. “We […]
Thanks for the answer, but that wasn’t my question: The pros and cons of secondary findings.
With the advent of exome and genome testing, laboratories began to identify changes in genes (variants) unrelated to the primary reason for genetic testing. These findings became known as “secondary findings.” There has been debate among providers since the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) published and then revised their recommendations for a […]