Stories – MCL at Work

With nearly 30 years at Mayo Clinic, Sherri Hawkins has served in a wide range of laboratory-related roles. Beginning as a laboratorian on the bench and now serving as Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) manager, Sherri has been able to unite her two career passions — laboratory testing and business.

Carrie began her career at Mayo Clinic in 2006 as the associate director of the Eisenberg Genomics Education Program. In her current role as a genetic counselor, she employs her skills to educate on genetic test offerings and support MCL’s product management team. Motivated by her family’s experience with a genetic condition, Carrie finds purpose and passion in sparking conversations and fostering understanding about the benefits of genetic testing, striving to make genomics accessible to diverse audiences.

Robin Huiras-Carlson's connection with Mayo Clinic traces back to her early years, marked by a diagnosis of a rare genetic condition at the age of 10. Today, as a senior marketing specialist with Mayo Clinic Laboratories, she draws inspiration and purpose from this personal journey to illuminate Mayo’s positive impact on patients and ongoing evolution in diagnostics.

Becca Johnson, a dedicated project manager, joined Mayo Clinic in 2014, driven by a desire to contribute to an organization making a global impact. With BioPharma Diagnostics, Becca oversees large projects, ensuring efficient sample handling and timely client results. Committed to patient-centric care, she works on transitioning clients to electronic solutions for streamlined processes. Becca finds purpose in collaborative efforts that shape healthcare's future and positively impact patients' lives.

In her current role as senior manager for global logistics at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Sarah Mason oversees the coordination of patient sample shipments by working with a network of stakeholders, couriers, carriers, and vendors. Sarah emphasizes the critical nature of safe and timely delivery of more than 38,000 samples each day, highlighting the dynamic challenges in healthcare logistics. Through her work, she finds meaning and purpose in collaborating with diverse teams to bring impactful change to Mayo Clinic operations and its patients.

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.