TETERBORO, N.J., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Quest Diagnostics
Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing,
information and services, today announced the appointment of Maher Albitar,
M.D., a renowned cancer scientist, to Medical Director for Hematopathology.
Previously, Dr. Albitar was a tenured professor at The University of Texas
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he served as Chief of the
Leukemia Section in the Department of Hematopathology, with a Joint
appointment in the Department of Leukemia. Dr. Albitar is a recipient of a
Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Albitar is responsible for leading the hematopathology department and
coordinating the efforts of 20 hematopathologists throughout the Quest
Diagnostics national network of laboratories. Under his direction, Quest
Diagnostics will further expand its state-of-the-art menu of hematopathology
technologies and tests that can help to render an accurate cancer diagnosis,
including, bone marrow pathology, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular
genetics, and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) testing.
Dr. Albitar is based at Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute in San Juan
Capistrano, California, the company's center for research and development and
one of its two full-service esoteric testing laboratories. Dr. Albitar will
draw upon his extensive expertise in hematopathology research, discovery and
invention to consult with physician customers in the diagnosis and management
of hematologic malignancies, including lymphomas and leukemias.
Dr. Albitar has served as an expert on several national committees and
editorial boards. He is the lead author of more than 150 peer-reviewed
papers, which have been published in prominent medical journals, including
Blood, Cancer, Leukemia, The European Journal of Hematology, Molecular and
Cellular Biology and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has published
extensively on angiogenesis in leukemia and he was the first to report on the
presence of the circulating CD20 and CD52 diagnostic markers and their impact
on the development of antibody-based therapy.
Dr. Albitar received his medical degree in 1979 from Damascus Medical
School in Damascus, Syria and is board-certified in anatomic and clinical
pathology with extensive experience in hematopathology. He has completed
fellowships in hematopathology at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine, and in molecular biology and human genetics at the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is the nation's leading provider of
diagnostic testing, information and services, providing insights that enable
physicians, hospitals, managed care organizations and other healthcare
professionals to make decisions to improve health. The company offers the
broadest access to diagnostic laboratory services through its national network
of laboratories and patient service centers. Quest Diagnostics is the leading
provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based medical testing, and
empowers healthcare organizations and clinicians with state-of-the-art
connectivity solutions that improve practice management. Additional company
information can be found on the Internet at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com.
The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or
information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and
outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties
may include, but are not limited to, unanticipated expenditures, changing
relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners, conditions of
the economy and other factors described in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
2002 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
-0- 09/30/2003
/CONTACT: Media - Jennifer Somers, +1-201-393-5700, or Investors - Laure
Park, +1-201-393-5030, both of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated/
/Web site: http://www.questdiagnostics.com /
(DGX)
CO: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
ST: New Jersey
IN: HEA MTC
SU: PER