ACHENTX & Quest Diagnostics Networking Event: Digital Pathology & AI in Lab

Join ACHENTX and Quest Diagnostics for a high-impact networking event featuring a dynamic panel on digital pathology and AI in the lab – where you’ll gain real-world insights, connect with forward-thinking leaders, and explore how emerging technologies are reshaping diagnostics, driving efficiency, and improving patient outcomes.

Moderator: Jared Lange, FACHE

Vice President, Operational Transformation

Parkland Health

Panelists:

Viv Babber, MD

CEO

Lean Six Intelligence Group

Dr. Mark Kruzel

Medical Director for Oncology and Consumer-Initiated Testing

Quest Diagnostics

Joel Soto, MT (ASCP)

Director, Laboratory Services

Methodist Mansfield Hospital

A big thanks to Quest Diagnostics for hosting this event for us! Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be available.

Speakers' Bios:

Dr. Viv Babber is a physician leader and AI governance and responsible AI strategist with over 20 years of clinical and healthcare leadership experience. She holds advanced certifications in AI Medicine and AI Ethics, and has earned the AI Governance Professional (AIGP) designation from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She has achieved a unique, visionary, and forward-thinking milestone with ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Auditor certification for global AI management systems (AIMS), positioning her among early leaders shaping the adoption of a rapidly emerging standard that supports structured AI governance, AI risk management, audit readiness, and regulatory compliance for organizations deploying AI.

A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Dr. Babber applies a disciplined, systems-driven approach grounded in process optimization, risk reduction, and operational efficiency to help healthcare systems, life sciences, and digital health companies implement safe, scalable, and compliant healthcare AI and enterprise AI solutions, including EHR-integrated AI. As an educator, advisor, and speaker, she positions AI governance as critical infrastructure, guiding medical and legal professionals to strengthen trust, safeguard privacy, and ensure safe, accountable AI adoption in high-stakes, high-trust environments. She is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and has been recognized as an AI75 Impact Innovator among leading AI voices in North Texas for advancing responsible, enterprise-ready AI. A trusted thought leader, her articles and AI On Call newsletter deliver clear, executive-level insights that inform decision-making across AI governance, compliance, and AI risk.

Mark Kruzel, MD, MBA serves as Medical Director for Oncology and Consumer-Initiated Testing at Quest Diagnostics. In these roles, he leads strategic efforts to expand access to high-quality diagnostics and advance precision medicine. In his consumer-initiated testing work, Dr. Kruzel focuses on designing clinically responsible patient-centered testing models that empower individuals while maintaining strong integration with the clinician care continuum. His approach reflects a nuanced understanding of the patient–physician relationship alongside a sophisticated appreciation for the operational, financial, and strategic dimensions—the business and the art—of modern medicine.

Dr. Kruzel also serves as a medical liaison to the organization’s national payers, partnering on reimbursement strategy and evidence development to support coverage for clinically actionable testing pathways. His work spans the full diagnostic lifecycle—from assay development, validation and clinical utility—while emphasizing appropriate utilization and the implementation of guideline-driven care pathways.

Deeply committed to improving health outcomes, Dr. Kruzel is particularly passionate about expanding equitable access to diagnostics for underserved populations. He is passionate about advancing testing pathways that are precise, efficient, and capable of informing meaningful clinical decisions.

With extensive experience across research and industry, Dr. Kruzel has managed an FDA clinical trial site and contributed to the commercialization of a novel therapeutic within a startup environment. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and presented at regional and national conferences, and he continues to pursue scholarship focused on diagnostic access, payer engagement, and innovative testing models.

He is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Dr. Kruzel earned his medical degree from McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Jared Lange, FACHE, joined Parkland Health & Hospital System in March 2019 as an Administrator and was subsequently promoted to Director of Business Sustainability and Development before assuming his current role as Vice President of Operational Transformation. In this capacity, he oversees several enterprise-wide non-clinical support functions, including Labor Optimization and Operational Excellence, Operations Data Services, the Enterprise Project Management Office, the Ambulatory Operations Business Office, and the Patient Access Center.

Prior to joining Parkland, Jared held consulting and operational leadership roles across the healthcare industry. He served as a Senior Operations Consultant at CallisonRTKL, where he helped define future-state operational processes to support the conceptual design of a new healthcare facility. Earlier in his career, Jared spent seven years with Crothall Healthcare in a variety of hospital support service leadership roles nationwide.

Jared earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wabash College and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Dallas. He also holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification from Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. Jared serves as a Board Member and Officer for the ACHE of North Texas Chapter and is President of the Wabash College DFW Alumni Board of Governors.

Joel Soto, Sr. serves as Director of Laboratory and Pathology Operations at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. With over two decades of experience at the intersection of clinical science and executive leadership, Joel has built a reputation for walking into complex, high-stakes environments and improving them — operationally, culturally, and strategically.

As a senior laboratory executive within Methodist Health System, Joel has been consistently reliable in closing the gap between vision and execution. He has rebuilt teams from the ground up, redesigned workflows, driven measurable clinical outcomes, and repositioned the laboratory as a competitive advantage and a strategic pillar of patient are. His work spans the full enterprise: financial performance, workforce development, regulatory compliance, and cross-functional clinical integration at the highest levels.

Concurrently, Joel founded a real estate investment firm where the same principles of disciplined capital allocation, calculated risk, and relentless execution apply. That entrepreneurial experience has sharpened his instincts in ways no leadership course can replicate, and it is that dual lens as operator and executive that makes his perspective distinct.

Joel’s conviction is straightforward: emerging technology only becomes transformational when it is met with the right leadership discipline to deploy it with intention to elevate patient outcomes, strengthen clinical operations, and advance the standard of care.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher ACHE of North Texas & Quest Diagnostics