Diseases are smart, so labs stay smarter: chasing evolving diseases in the lab
From a young age, Shrei Crenshaw was destined for a career in health care. She was passionate about helping others, but saw herself being more behind the scenes.
Fast forward to today, Shrei is the Lab Operations Manager at Inform Diagnostics, where she oversees multiple technical teams across the company, totaling about 120 technical staff. Alongside her team, Shrei works to provide clear, actionable answers so that providers can determine the best treatment plan for patients. “I like to refer to us as the wizards behind the curtain. We are the ones that are providing their clinicians with a diagnosis so the clinicians know how to treat them appropriately,” says Shrei.
Despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Inform Diagnostics continued to receive specimens daily from providers who stayed open to provide cancer screenings and treatment. “COVID did not stop cancer,” emphasizes Shrei. “We were able to still provide them with the same level of work and the same level of quality that we were providing them before the pandemic. And that was very important to us to make sure that we were staying open and still serving our clients and our patients as best we could.”
Since starting her career, Shrei has witnessed firsthand the evolution and innovation of the industry to provide the best services for patients. For instance, many testing facilities now have state-of-the-art tracking systems that are comparable to that of logistics couriers like FedEx and UPS. Having these technological tools in place can help alleviate some anxiety for clients in having the awareness of where a specimen is in the process of testing.
Shrei and her team are constantly working to stay ahead of the curve and deliver the testing that patients and providers need. “These diseases that we treat daily are getting smarter and smarter every day, and we have to continue to be smarter and smarter along with them,” Shrei says. “As we saw with COVID-19, diseases mutate at a rapid pace, and that’s why research remains a huge aspect in what we do.”
Watch the highlights below from the interview with Shrei to learn more about her work at Inform Diagnostics.
