A First-of-Its-Kind Training Center Aims to Transform the MLS Pathway

For Jonathan Genzen, MD, PhD, MBA, FASCP, chief medical officer and senior director of government affairs at ARUP Laboratories, the completion of a new Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center (APL) with the University of Utah’s Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences was a full-circle career moment. 
 
Dr. Genzen, an ASCP board member, says the project brought together his interest in education, as a faculty member at the University of Utah, his role as a medical director, and his passion for regulatory affairs. The first-of-its-kind advanced practice lab (APL) was built using $3 million in federal funding that was included in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Division of the Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2022 with the help of Chris Stewart, a former Utah U.S. Representative. It officially opened on September 30, 2025. 

Dr. Genzen’s clinical, academic, and business background gave him an appreciation for the massive effort required to design, build, staff, and fund such an important project. Beyond the federal funds, the Department of Pathology’s Medical Laboratory Sciences Division provides support for faculty and staff to develop and implement curricula and to provide instruction and assessment. The program has also secured a grant for a laboratory information system to be used in the training center, according to an ARUP Laboratories press release. 

“I don't think most programs have thought about this potential approach for funding. It's a little bit atypical,” says Dr. Genzen, of the process of securing funds appropriated by Congress to build a training facility of this scale. “This seemed like a really novel approach, but it was a long shot. There was absolutely no guarantee we would be successful, but we were pleasantly surprised. People understood at each step along the way what we were trying to do and why we thought it would have a positive impact for our community.” 
 
A model for bridging education and practice 
Dr. Genzen believes the new APL could serve as a potential model for enhancing medical laboratory science (MLS) training across the country. The training center, which sits on the ARUP campus at University of Utah Research Park in Salt Lake City, is essentially a mock hospital lab that has the same set up, equipment, and instrumentation that you would expect to see in a hospital setting.  

Typically, MLS trainee rotations are integrated into the workflow of an operational clinical lab that’s doing patient testing, which can be challenging because staff are already managing clinical work while also trying to contribute to the student educational experience. 

“There are certainly smaller simulated labs in existing training programs, but this is pretty unique in its scale and instrumentation dedicated for educational purposes,” Dr. Genzen says. 

He’s hopeful that the creation of this training facility will help contribute to addressing the longstanding MLS shortage that Utah and the rest of the country are facing. ARUP and university officials say the training center will enable the University of Utah to double the annual number of graduates to 80. 

The opportunity to play a role in addressing the MLS shortage and supporting the University of Utah as an attractive place for MLS students to train is exciting for Dr. Genzen. Pathology and laboratory sciences are under-recognized fields, but they’re incredibly important and rewarding. 

“If you work in a clinical laboratory, the work you do is providing absolutely critical and essential information for patients, often at a very important time in their healthcare journey,” says Dr. Genzen. “A patient sees their doctor, they see their nurse. They typically don't see laboratory scientists working in the lab, and that's why we're trying to enhance recognition of this important profession.”