Every April, Foundation Medicine gets the chance to do something we love: celebrate and honor the lab team members at the heart of our commitment to transform cancer care. Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, or “Lab Week,” is a celebration of the amazing lab professionals in healthcare. This week is especially important at Foundation Medicine because we are proud to commend our remarkable lab team members and their crucial work that directly impacts patients every day. Our employees went all out for this year’s national theme: “Barbie: The Lab is Everything.” The week’s many events showcased our community spirit and gratitude for lab teams, along with our ongoing commitment to innovation.

Foundation Medicine celebrated its lab teams with events across all locations — Boston, Research Triangle Park, San Diego and Penzberg. In addition to the extensive planning, the success of these events was largely due to the enthusiastic participation of our employees, who were eager to show their gratitude for their colleagues. Lab Week kicked off with vibrant events at each site that set the tone for the week. Main events like a Lunch and Learn and a patient speaker session offered meaningful moments to reflect on the positive impact our teams have. Other activities like a bake-off, barbeque, pizza party and cornhole tournament offered a chance to connect and unwind. These events were special opportunities to strengthen our community outside of the lab, providing the team members with a well-deserved break while they enjoy the recognition they deserve.  

A highlight of Lab Week 2024 was the unveiling of a creative and spirited Barbie themed music video that our employees had been excitedly preparing for weeks. From costumes to dancing, our lab teams did not hold back! This playful project showcased their creativity and reflected our company’s strong team spirit and camaraderie. It's a peek into the shared joy and vibrant personalities within the lab community and an illustration of the passion they bring to their roles, capturing the essence of why we celebrate this week. 

Our lab team members help to continue driving our passion for innovation through their dedication to ensuring that all lab processes are conducted with quality in mind. Megan Uozumi, an automation engineer at our San Diego location, exemplifies this dedication. She shares that working at Foundation Medicine is uniquely rewarding because of the close connection we have in supporting patients and their healthcare providers with information needed to help inform treatment planning. The field of oncology is an ever-changing environment, but Megan and her team effectively adapt and overcome challenges by setting their sights on an end goal: delivering results more quickly. This drive is what inspires the work that our lab teams do every day. 

Megan Uozumi (left) and Michelle Xi Mei Juele during Lab Week festivities in San Diego.

The automation engineering team is currently working on advancing automation processes with a goal of helping redefine our capabilities, aiming to create a “lab of the future” that accelerates processing times. This is just one of the innovative advancements that our teams are working on. Every day our incredible lab professionals are working on providing even more critical information to patients and their healthcare teams, allowing for further informed treatment decisions.  

It's clear why we take such pride in celebrating the lab team members who are pivotal in our work to transform cancer care; they give us countless reasons to do so. We look forward to the promising future of our labs, fueled by the passion and ongoing commitment to excellence that our team members hold.