When "Cool" Saves Lives

Hologic’s 3Dimensions™ Mammography System dominates cancer detection

BY PETER OSBORNE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DR. ROBERT LAY, THEREALROBLAY PHOTOGRAPHY

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be “cool?” It’s not a dad wearing socks with sandals on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach or the person in front of you at Starbucks placing an overly elaborate coffee order.

In Delaware, voters in the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and Delaware Manufacturing Association’s inaugural Coolest Thing Made in Delaware contest faced options ranging from spacesuits made by ILC Dover, Playtex Sport Tampons, and guitar picks to Dogfish Head beer, claymore weapons systems, Bloody Mary sticks, and sarcophagus-scented candles.

All cool, to be sure. But after nearly 20,000 votes, the winner’s coolness fell into the category of “lifesaver” as the prize went to Hologic’s 3Dimensions™ Mammography System, which provides higher-quality images and a more comfortable screening procedure.

For Gina Corley, who works in Hologic’s Newark office, the word “lifesaver” is literal. The day before Hologic learned it won, she rang the bell that cancer survivors ring when they’re free of the disease. That day came five months after she was diagnosed using the scanner at the Tatiana Copeland Breast Cancer Center at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center during her annual screening.

“Although I had no symptoms or genetic risk factors, our screener detected the cancer early, at a highly treatable stage, thanks to its advanced detection capabilities,” she says.

The trophy initially sat on Corley’s desk during a renovation of the Newark company’s manufacturing facility that was paid for with a $2.2 million state grant that brought with it Hologic’s promise it would add 225 new employees. That will bring employment to nearly 400 for a company whose screeners own 80% of the U.S. market.

Developing new products and technologies that provide streamlined, personalized treatments is essential to fulfilling our vision to revolutionize patient care while leveraging our strength in women’s health to create a world where every patient has access to exceptional healthcare options.

— Paola Wisner, Vice President of Global Research and Development

Newark is now the global headquarters for Hologic’s Breast and Skeletal Health division, which also produces biopsy technologies. It will finish consolidating its production facilities in Newark by early 2025, meaning many of those 225 new employees will relocate from Danbury, Connecticut.

“The 3D system was a complete game changer with respect to early detection of breast cancer when it was launched in 2011,” says Hologic Vice President of Global Operations Brian Brooks, adding that the company was the first manufacturer to bring 3D technology to the market. “It detects [far more] invasive breast cancers than 2D mammography. The fact that what we make saves lives is what makes it damn cool to me.”

Hologic says it’s mammogram machines around the United States conduct millions of exams each year and save tens of thousands of lives per year. Hologic also uses AI to compare the data from one exam to a growing database of exams and make recommendations to screening radiologists to check.

“The radiologists using our AI are gaining much greater confidence in the specificity of the results that are obtained,” Brooks says. “It focuses the radiologist’s eye exactly where it needs to go, which is important as they contend with staffing shortages and heavy workloads.”

Hologic, a Massachusetts-based public company that employs 7,000 people worldwide, focuses on improving women’s health and wellbeing through early detection and treatment. In 1999, it entered the Delaware market by acquiring Newark-based Direct Radiography.

Brooks says the transfer of Hologics’s manufacturing and R&D for the on-market products “will enable us to build on our legacy of innovation with fresh perspectives and new energy that these new folks are bringing into the facility along with the talent that we’ve been able to find here in Delaware. It’s really getting everyone under one roof, working on the same thing at the same time, just those hallway conversations and the lab conversations that spark a thought.”

Vice President of Global Research and Development Paola Wisner agrees. “We are at such a pivotal moment in healthcare as medical technology continues to evolve and advance, and our team here in Newark is at the forefront of innovation,” she says. “Developing new products and technologies that provide streamlined, personalized treatments is essential to fulfilling our vision to revolutionize patient care while leveraging our strength in women’s health to create a world where every patient has access to exceptional healthcare options.”

Hologic has prioritized building hiring relationships with the University of Delaware and the Newark area Vo-Tech schools in an effort to help grow the pipeline of innovators.

“We’ve hired rising seniors from Hodgson and Delcastle who spend half their time working here and half their time in school,” Brooks says. “It opens their eyes to the emerging field of medical device manufacturing.”

As far as university recruiting, Brooks says Hologic is fortunate to have connected with the University of Delaware and its “really strong engineering programs.”

“We want to instill within our culture the philosophy that ‘We is greater than me’ and that at the end of the day we’re helping to protect our moms, our daughters, our grandmothers, whoever it may be. We want to make sure that Hologic is an employer of choice in everyone’s mind.”

Hologic has a fundraising and culture committee based out of Newark called the Pink Squad that helps direct volunteer time and funds toward local organizations.

With Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming up in October, Hologic is promoting the importance of screenings and early detection worldwide. The Newark office is a major sponsor of Making Strides of Delaware, a non-competitive walk that raises funds and awareness for breast cancer. The 2024 event will take place on Sunday, October 27, at Bellevue State Park in New Castle.

“Our associates will be walking during Making Strides and supporting the Unite for HER’s Wellness Passport Program,” which supports patients as they go through breast and ovarian cancer, Brooks says. “It’s a deeply personal issue for many of our associates.”

Hologic asks for feedback from clinicians and patients on improving its products. Pain during exams has historically been the number one complaint during mammograms, so the company developed its Smart Curve Breast Stabilization System, which mirrors the shape of a woman’s breast to reduce pinching and apply uniform compression over the entire breast.

“This fear of pain historically has prevented many women from making regular breast imaging appointments a priority, putting women at risk of cancer being missed or diagnosed much later than it should have been when it’s at a more advanced stage,” Brooks says.

As Hologic made its way through each round of the Coolest Things competition, leaders began thinking they had a real shot at winning.

“Considering the size of some of our competitors and some of the really cool products, yeah, winning was a surprise,” Brooks says. “But as I thought about it, we’ve probably all been touched in some way, shape, or form by breast cancer. So why not throw some love to the company who developed and produces these devices that help our loved ones?”

“We take immense pride in the lifesaving technology we design and produce,” he added. “But entering the competition was more about raising awareness about what we produce right here in Newark, Delaware.”

Mission accomplished.