Lauren Spanjer Bricks is a woman whose work fronted the development of a fast and accurate COVID-19 test in Georgia. In 2016 she co-founded Ipsum Diagnostics, a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited national reference laboratory specializing in molecular pathogen detection, and she continues to lead as co-owner and COO. As an Atlanta native, Lauren wanted to stay close to her roots and opened Ipsum Diagnostics, with partner Colin Rogers, in her hometown of Sandy Springs.
In 2020, Lauren led development of Ipsum Diagnostics’ high capacity COVID-19 RT-PCR Test method that was granted full FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), making it the first lab in Georgia and one of the first 12 laboratories in the country with FDA authorization for molecular COVID-19 testing. With Lauren leading Ipsum, it became the first COVID-19 Test Lab in the country to offer a Patient Portal in Spanish.
Prior to Ipsum Diagnostics, Lauren worked for the Biological Defense Research Directorate at the Navy Medical Research Center, where she received an award for her work on biowarfare assay development. She gained an expertise in laboratory regulatory requirements while working at Thermo Fisher. Lauren also worked at eLab, where she was intimately involved in setting up numerous labs across the United States, with one lab earning the Laboratory of the Year award from Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation (COLA).
Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and an MBA from the University of Maryland. In her free time, she is a long-time practitioner of Krav Maga, has dance parties with her husband and children and is active in her two children’s school, volunteering for their Annual Golf Tournament and fundraising activities.
Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn and follow Ipsum Diagnostics on Facebook and Twitter.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- What is Ipsum Diagnostics and what does Ipsum Diagnostics do?
- How has Ipsum Diagnostics played a roll in helping fight COVID-19 and what impact has this had on Georgia?
- What are some programs or features of Ipsum Diagnostics that makes this lab so unique?
- How have they streamlined patient testing and patients viewing their results?
- Who is Lauren Bricks?
- How has Ipsum Diagnostics evolved since the beginning of the pandemic?
- How is Lauren Bricks balancing her life being a Co-Owner and COO of a company, a mother, and a wife?
- What projects does Ipsum Diagnostics have planned for the future?
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