Stories – MCL at Work

Brie LaJoye began her career with Mayo Clinic in 2018 as an intern and has been with the organization for nearly six years. She currently works as a Laboratory information system (LIS) technical specialist, managing lab instrumentation, troubleshooting issues, and improving testing procedures. Her work ensures accurate and timely results for patients and providers, and she takes pride in being a crucial part of the lab's operations.

Eight years ago, Tamara Staley joined Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ Cardiovascular Sales team selling CV diagnostic testing to community hospitals. Now, she leads sales for Hematology and Oncology’s Central Region. Tamara is proud to help connect physicians and patients to a wide variety of oncology solid tumor testing that includes breast cancer testing.

Outreach manager Jane Hermansen regards Mayo Clinic as the pinnacle of healthcare. Having spent her formative years in Minnesota, she was inspired by her uncle Roger to embark on a path as a laboratory scientist. Presently, she oversees the Mayo Clinic Laboratories outreach consulting and network programs. In addition, she spearheads the laboratory industry's only outreach conference, Leveraging the Laboratory.

In spring of 2022, Adam Stewart joined Mayo Clinic’s Blood Donor Program as a marketing and recruitment coordinator. He enjoys and finds great purpose in his work because he loves to see members of his local community donate blood and help patients in need.

Joune Twist has always embraced her natural interest for learning new information and improving processes. In 2019, her curiosity and previous work led her to join Mayo Clinic’s Neuroimmunology Lab. As a medical laboratory scientist, Joune tests patient samples and shares her findings with providers.

As the creative director for Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Amy Turunen finds that each day brings unique creative opportunities and marketing projects. Through her design work and creative direction, Amy helps to curate testing awareness and provide insightful information to physicians, lab partners, and patients.

In 2010, Jessica Balcom began her career with Mayo Clinic supporting molecular testing in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology with a joint appointment in the Mayo Clinic Cystic Fibrosis Center. Now she serves as a hematology-oncology genetic counselor supervisor managing a large team of genetic counselors, assistants, and a clinical variant scientist who help guide appropriate utilization of genetic testing.

As a senior product manager for Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Ben Levno supports the neurology segment of specialty testing. While Mayo Clinic physicians have access to our world-renowned neurology testing to diagnose and care for patients, Ben’s job is to increase access to those same resources for providers and patients around the world.

As supervisor of the Tissue Registry Archive, Annette Bjorheim finds purpose in her work to provide archived material for patient testing, education, and research needs.

Wendy is a clinical laboratory technologist who works in the Hematopathology Morphology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. Although she’s worked with Mayo Clinic since 1989, her greatest passion is serving others throughout the community.

Rachel is a referral specialist serving as the important link between Mayo Clinic Laboratories and our clients. With an eye on quality assurance, she helps patients and clinicians get answers faster.

As a field service coordinator at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Spencer Beekmann spends much of his time onboarding and training new staff on the Client Site Specimen Processing and Regional Service Representative teams. After seven years at Mayo Clinic, Spencer has gained deep respect for the organization’s patient-centric approach to care.

More than 17 years ago, Michael Goard started his career at Mayo Clinic in Specimen Operations. Today, he takes great pride in his role as a field service manager working with clients and making a difference for our patients.