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A microbiologist, Adam Barker, PhD, was ARUP's chief scientific officer and director of Research and Development before being named chief operations officer. He now adds Reference Business Unit president to his title.
SALT LAKE CITY—ARUP Laboratories today announced that Chief Operations Officer (COO) Adam Barker, PhD, has been named president and COO of ARUP’s Reference Business Unit, effective January 1, 2026. Barker, who joined ARUP in 2010 as a medical microbiology fellow, has been COO since 2022.
“Adam’s new title is a recognition of the critical role he plays in leading ARUP’s core national esoteric testing business,” CEO Andy Theurer said. “For the past several years, he has been key to streamlining our sophisticated laboratory operations to accommodate rapid growth while maintaining the highest level of quality.”
Barker has led platform consolidation efforts involving mass spectrometry, next generation sequencing, and molecular testing. He has worked with vendors to secure supply lines to optimize operational stability amid growth. The advanced automated processes Barker has helped establish support workflow improvements that reduce turnaround times to get test results to clinicians and their patients faster than ever.
Barker noted that growth in ARUP’s reference testing business continues to outpace predictions, so ongoing operational innovation is imperative. “I look forward to engaging our workforce for new ideas to continually improve the tests and services we offer,” he said.
Barker’s appointment as Reference Business Unit president completes the leadership triumvirate of the multidivisional structure that ARUP began transitioning to in July 2023. ARUP is the nation’s largest nonprofit reference laboratory. Given its growth and the complexity of its business, the company now operates in three distinct units.
As president of the Reference Business Unit, Barker will oversee ARUP’s core business of providing a comprehensive menu of esoteric laboratory tests and related services to hospitals and health systems nationwide. Tracy George, MD, is ARUP’s chief scientific officer and president of the Innovation Business Unit, which oversees the ARUP Institute for Research and Innovation in Diagnostic and Precision Medicine™, New Technology, and PharmaDx and Clinical Trials. Dan Albertson, MD, is president of the University Business Unit, which provides laboratory testing and transfusion medicine services to University of Utah Health.
Barker, who earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, had just completed a fellowship in microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard University when he joined ARUP in 2010. He went on to become a medical director before being named associate director of Research and Development (R&D) and later, director of R&D, a position he held from 2017 to 2021, when he was named chief scientific officer.
About ARUP Laboratories
Founded in 1984, ARUP Laboratories is a leading national reference laboratory and a nonprofit enterprise of the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology. ARUP offers more than 3,000 tests and test combinations, ranging from routine screening tests to esoteric molecular and genetic assays. ARUP serves clients in all 50 states, including many of the nation’s top university teaching hospitals and children’s hospitals, as well as multihospital groups, major commercial laboratories, group purchasing organizations, military and other government facilities, and major clinics. In addition, ARUP is a worldwide leader in innovative laboratory research and development, led by the efforts of the ARUP Institute for Research and Innovation in Diagnostic and Precision Medicine™. ARUP is ISO 15189 CAP accredited.
ARUP Media Contact
Bonnie Stray, bonnie.stray@aruplab.com, 801-583-2787 ext. 2823
