March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and it’s Women’s History Month. Erica Barnell, MD, PhD, is in the HEC Media spotlight for her inspiring role as a leading female scientist in the world of colorectal cancer screenings.

Barnell is Co-Founder and Chief Medical & Science Officer of Geneoscopy, based in St. Louis, MO. Barnell and her research team created ColoSense, an alternative to colonoscopies and other screening methods that she said is more pleasant for a patient to administer and highly accurate.

“The premise for the company was to evaluate RNA biomarkers in stool samples,” she said. “We recognized that RNA provided insight into the disease and what was happening in real time.”

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States and it’s the second leading cause of cancer deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet, colorectal cancer is highly preventable.

A colonoscopy provides the opportunity for early detection and prevention through the removal of polyps, but millions of eligible patients ages 45 and older avoid colonoscopies and other screening methods.

In May of 2024, ColoSense became the first FDA-approved RNA-based stool test for colorectal cancer screening in adults ages 45 and older. Additionally, Geneoscopy announced a major collaboration with Labcorp that would help reach millions of patients.

“We have a strategic collaboration with Labcorp. Any patient going to their primary care ordering a CBC or lipid panel, or whatever it is, through Labcorp can order a ColoSense test through that exact same portal,” said Barnell.

Barnell is expecting the company to exceed current laboratory capacity of processing 250,000 samples a year, so there are plans to expand.

“It would be shocking to the average person to know how much joy it brings me to have our freezers just stocked to the brim with samples,” said Barnell. “But for me, data is power.”