Inside the Center of Excellence for Cardiometabolic testing at Quest Diagnostics (5 min)

Summary

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Healthier World with Quest Diagnostics

Episode: Inside the Center of Excellence for Cardiometabolic testing at Quest Diagnostics

Date: September 8, 2025
Host: Dr. Mason Latsko
Guests: Dr. Mark Penn, Dr. Maurice, Dr. Tim Collier, Jim Davis

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Overview

This short "Instant Insights" episode takes listeners inside the Cleveland Heart Lab, serving as Quest Diagnostics’ Center of Excellence for cardiometabolic, endocrine, and wellness testing. Through clips from leading professionals, the episode reveals the Lab’s pivotal role in advancing chronic disease prevention, highlights its unique clinical philosophy, and showcases the powerful technology and ecosystem that set it apart.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Clinical Challenge and Prevention Focus

Speaker: Dr. Mark Penn, Founder & CMO, Cleveland Heart Lab
[01:39]

• Primary care providers are increasingly challenged by patients with complex chronic diseases.
• A significant insight: 50% of heart attack patients have normal or controlled cholesterol.

  “No longer is driving cholesterol levels down to a level of 70 absolutely protective.” — Dr. Mark Penn [01:47]

• The new paradigm: Move beyond treating just cholesterol—focus on identifying broader risk factors (LDL, insulin, blood sugar, weight).
• Key Takeaway: Shift healthcare toward precise risk identification and prevention rather than solely lowering cholesterol.

  “The reality is to identify patients who either need further LDL lowering, better insulin lowering, better blood sugar control, weight loss... now the way to go is to focus on prevention.” — Dr. Mark Penn [01:53]

2. The Cardiometabolic Approach

Speaker: Dr. Maurice, GM & VP, Cardiometabolic, Endocrine & Wellness, Quest Diagnostics
[02:15]

• Quest’s comprehensive approach covers not just heart disease, but also diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease.
• Unifies Cleveland Heart Lab’s specialized prevention focus with Quest’s broad clinical capacity.

  “We took the best of Cleveland Heart Lab, which is all around heart disease prevention and the boutique feel... and combine[d] that with the best of Quest.” — Dr. Maurice [02:31]

3. Technology Powering Innovation

Speaker: Dr. Tim Collier, Scientific Director of R&D, Cleveland Heart Lab
[02:46]

• Advanced technologies such as Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC MS) provide precise molecular analysis for advanced diagnostics.
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): Uses quantum mechanics to profile blood composition. Especially valuable for detailed cholesterol/lipoprotein analysis.

  “We literally use quantum mechanics to look at a patient’s blood composition... to look at the different sizes and quantities of lipoproteins or cholesterol particles.” — Dr. Tim Collier [03:02]

4. Why Cleveland? Building an Ecosystem for Excellence

Speaker: Jim Davis, Chairman, CEO & President, Quest Diagnostics
[03:30]

• Cleveland’s healthcare environment enabled investing and building this center of excellence.
• The Lab is fundamental to Quest’s mission of creating a healthier world through diagnostic insights.

  “One of our three goals... is about creating a healthier world... by empowering better health through diagnostic insights.” — Jim Davis [03:44]

• Emphasis on providing critical analysis and actionable information to patients and providers.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dr. Mark Penn [01:47]:
  “50% of patients who have heart attacks these days either have normal or controlled cholesterol levels. No longer is driving cholesterol levels down to a level of 70 absolutely protective.”
• Dr. Maurice [02:31]:
  “We took the best of Cleveland Heart Lab... and combine that with the best of Quest.”
• Dr. Tim Collier [03:02]:
  “We literally use quantum mechanics to look at a patient’s blood composition.”
• Jim Davis [03:44]:
  “[Our purpose is] about creating a healthier world... by empowering better health through diagnostic insights.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:03 – Introduction from Dr. Mason Latsko & episode overview
• 01:39 – Dr. Mark Penn on the need for new prevention models
• 02:15 – Dr. Maurice on the comprehensive cardiometabolic philosophy
• 02:46 – Dr. Tim Collier explains diagnostic technologies (LC MS & NMR)
• 03:30 – Jim Davis discusses strategic investment in Cleveland and the mission

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Conclusion

This instant insight episode showcases Quest Diagnostics’ commitment to innovation and prevention in cardiometabolic health. The Cleveland Heart Lab stands out not just for its technology but by driving a transformative approach that focuses on holistic, personalized, preventive care—uniting deep scientific expertise, advanced diagnostics, and a patient-centric mission.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Healthier World with Quest Diagnostics. Our goal is to prompt action from Insight as we keep you up to date on current clinical and diagnostic topics in cardiovascular, metabolic, endocrine and wellness medicine. Welcome to a special episode series called Instant Insights, a podcast episode designed to give you quick and highly impactful clinical pearls in just a few minutes. I'm Dr. Mason Latsko and today we bring you inside Cleveland Heart Lab, where cutting edge science meets groundbreaking research for personalized care. Cleveland Heart Lab serves as the center of excellence for cardio, metabolic, endocrine and wellness testing at Quest Diagnostics. But what does it mean to be the center of excellence? Today I bring you a clip highlighting what Cleveland Heart Lab means to the people who make it all happen. This clip features Dr. Mark Penn, founder and Chief Medical Officer for Cleveland Heart Lab, as he discusses the need for better chronic disease prevention. Dr. Maurice, General Manager and Vice President for the cardiometabolic, endocrine and wellness franchise at Quest Diagnostics as he reviews the cardiometabolic approach to healthcare. Dr. Tim Collier, scientific Director of Research and development at Cleveland Heart Lab, discussing the technology behind our testing. And finally, Jim Davis, Chairman, CEO and president of Quest Diagnostics, highlights Cleveland Heart Lab as the center of excellence for cardiometabolic, endocrine and wellness testing. Enjoy listening to the great minds behind the lab.

[B]

Primary care docs are challenged these days. They're seeing a lot of patients. Patients are having a lot of different chronic problems. 50% of patients who have heart attacks these days either have normal or controlled cholesterol levels. No longer is driving cholesterol levels down to a level of 70 absolutely protective. The reality is to identify patients who either need further LDL lowering, better insulin lowering, better blood sugar control, weight loss, all those things we need to identify risk. So now the way to go is to focus on prevention.

[C]

Our cardiometabolic approach is very deep rooted in preventing heart disease and associated metabolic condition like diabetes, like non alcoholic fatty liver disease and like chronic kidney disease. We took the best of Cleveland Heart Lab, which is all around heart disease prevention and the boutique feel of Cleveland Heart Lab, and combine that with the best of Quest.

[D]

At the Quest Cardia Metabolic center of Excellence at Cleveland Heart Lab. We use numerous technologies to help develop new assays and the first is a technology called liquid chromatography mass spectrometry or LC Ms. And that is a technology that gives us unparalleled sensitivity and specificity in terms of being able to analyze components of a complex mixture. Another platform that we've recently used is nuclear magnetic resonance, or nmr. We literally use quantum mechanics to look at a patient's blood composition, and we use it primarily to look at the different sizes and quantities of lipoproteins or cholesterol particles in the patient's blood.

[E]

Clearly, we have made this the center of excellence for cardiometabolic testing and Quest Diagnostics. And why did we choose to invest here and invest in Cleveland? Cleveland is actually an incredible ecosystem from a healthcare standpoint. One of our three goals, which really is the purpose to me, is about creating a healthier world. And we do that by empowering better health through diagnostic insights. We try to provide information and analysis to patients and to providers to help them live healthier lives.

[A]

That's a wrap on this episode of Healthier World with Quest Diagnostics. Please follow us on your favorite podcast app and be sure to check out Quest Diagnostics Clinical Education center for more resources, including educational webinars and research publications. Thank you for joining us today as we work to create a healthier world one life at a time.