about us
“The greatest need we have today in the human cancer problem, except for a universal cure, is a method for detecting cancer before there are any clinical signs or symptoms.”
Sidney Farber, M.D.
Father of modern chemotherapy
November 1962
pioneering the detection of early cancer
Harbinger Health is pioneering the detection of early cancer and enabling foundationally new approaches to cancer screening, diagnosis and management. Incubated within Flagship Pioneering for three years before launching in 2021, Harbinger combines advances in artificial intelligence with proprietary insights into the biology of the beginnings of cancer to identify cancer before it is visible or symptomatic with the aim of developing a low-cost, multi-cancer blood test.
A harbinger is a “forerunner, that which precedes and gives notice of the coming of another.” We not only are working to identify the harbinger – the biological programs present in the earliest forms of cancer – but seek to be the harbinger, to be the forerunner which will usher in the future of healthcare.
At Harbinger, we intend to lead in shaping this future – creating a proactive paradigm so that people can live cancer-free for longer, adding years to life and life to years. We envision a future where, instead of keeping cancer from spreading, it could be kept from forming, making a cancer diagnosis a routine health problem to be addressed rather than a life-altering event to be feared with profound implications for people, healthcare systems and societies.
Our answer to the problem of late cancer detection and unacceptable patient prognoses starts with our proprietary solutions for the future of cancer pre-emption. Beginning with blood-based tests, we will enable cancer detection before it is visible. By identifying biological programs rooted in cancer's origins, we can enable identification of early stage and pre-disease. Through this new pathway for cancer diagnosis and early therapeutic interventions, Harbinger Health has the potential to fundamentally change cancer care, for everyone.
Stephen H. Rusckowski
Steve Rusckowski retired as Chairman of the Board of Quest Diagnostics on March 31, 2023.
He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Diagnostics from May 2012 through October 2022, and during that time focused on transforming the company, based on its compelling vision of “Empowering better health with diagnostic insights.” Under Steve’s leadership, the company refocused on its core diagnostic information services business, sold non- core assets, delivered disciplined deployment, including share repurchases and acquisitions, and simplified its organizational structure to better serve customers by removing complexity, speeding decision making and empowering employees. He was elected Chairman of the Board in December 2016.
Prior to joining Quest Diagnostics, Steve was CEO of Philips Healthcare, which became the largest unit of Royal Philips Electronics under his leadership. He joined Philips in 2001 when it acquired the Healthcare Solutions Group, he was leading at Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies.
Steve was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Clinical Laboratory Association and served as its Chairman from 2014 to 2017. He is also an Emeritus Director of Project Hope, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization.
He currently serves on the boards of Baxter International, Tenet, Qiagen and Harbinger Health. Steve is also on the board of executives of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Vice Chairman of Board of Trustees of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and board member of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
Steve earned a Master of Science degree in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.