Our Story

Welcome to Kashi Clinical Laboratories, a fully accredited laboratory specializing in a range of health-related testing services and customized assay development.

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We believe in helping people thrive.

Founded in May 2006, by Zahra Mehdizadeh Kashi, Ph.D., H.C.L.D., Kashi Labs began by offering pre and post-transplant/transfusion related services for the oncology and HLA communities. As time progressed, so did the laboratory with services expanding to include drug sensitivity, disease association, and private bone marrow testing. With the initial success in serving the field of transplantation and transfusion, Kashi Labs developed a wide range of genomic services to further support the advancement of medical oncology. Today, Kashi Labs provides a wide range of development services, reference lab services and platforms to complement our original battery of testing. Using the latest technology, Kashi scientists combine their decades of experience with stringent protocols to create, validate, and implement every test. Our customer service is personal, timely, and tailored to your program needs.

Leadership & Team

Zahra Kashi, PhD

Founder & CEO

Dena Balbach

Chief Business Officer

Russell Martin

TECHNICAL MANAGER

Meagan Barner

Laboratory Supervisor

Cong Nguyen

Laboratory Supervisor

Madison Statler

Laboratory Supervisor

Kashi Clinical Laboratories is committed to providing the highest-quality scientific information to our healthcare providers and patients for preventive diagnostic care.

This commitment is reflected in the rigorous standards of our laboratory practices because our service is delivering more than a test result. Our partnership with you is the cornerstone of our business.

Benefits of partnering with Kashi Labs:

Complimentary Consultation Services available to all clients.

100% non-invasive buccal swab sample collection

Industry leading, fast turnaround times

Comprehensive and easy-to-read reports

Customized electronic reporting and payment options

In-house research and development team ready to provide one-on-one assistance

We invite you to register as a new provider.

Zahra Kashi, PhD

Founder & CEO

Zahra Mehdizadeh Kashi, PhD, HCLD, is a board-certified molecular immunohematologist with over 32 years of experience in clinical laboratories with extensive leadership.

Dr. Kashi has significant expertise in clinical laboratory development, quality system auditing, GMP development, project management, regulatory compliance, strategic planning and business development. She is a highly-sought clinical laboratory consultant, with dozens of peer-reviewed publications and abstracts, as well as numerous invited presentations.

Dr. Kashi is active in various regulatory agencies including the American Society of Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics (ASHI), College of American Pathologists (CAP) and American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) where she has served in many roles ranging from inspecting laboratories to serving on the Board of Directors.

In addition, Dr. Kashi has served as a clinical assistant professor in the department of pathology/CLS at Oregon Health & Science University and has held a number of other education and research positions at local universities, hospitals, and corporations. Dr. Kashi holds a doctorate degree in molecular immunohematology from Portland State University, and completed her doctoral thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Heinrich at Oregon Health Sciences University. She also completed the Michigan Ross Executive MBA Program at the University of Michigan.

Dena Balbach

Chief Business Officer

Dena holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership with a specialization in strategic innovation and change management.

Dena Balbach has served as Chief Business Officer with Kashi Labs since 2018.  Prior to joining the team, she had over 20 years of laboratory experience in business development, global business relationships, and corporate strategies with a large reference laboratory. 

As Chief Business Officer she is responsible for coordinating with the CEO on the strategic direction of Kashi, understanding current business regulatory standards, overseeing business contracts, risk management, business partnerships and other financial matters that keep the business aligned with budgeting and growth goals.

Russell Martin

Technical Manager

Russell Martin graduated Magna cum Laude from the Honors College of Arizona State University in 2004 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences.

During his college career, Russell Martin worked for four years in a university laboratory in the field of avian endocrinology. He began working at Kashi Clinical Laboratories in 2006, where over the course of 15 years, he has authored numerous papers and abstracts in the fields of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Russell is currently the supervisor of the laboratory’s HLA department.

Meagan Barner

Laboratory Supervisor

Meagan is the supervisor of the Transcriptomics department of Kashi Clinical Laboratories.

Meagan Barner began her laboratory career performing drug discovery research with zebrafish. After completing a biology degree, she joined the Kashi Lab team in the HLA department. After learning the complexities of HLA, she branched out into other areas at Kashi Lab, including molecular pathology. When Kashi Lab was given the opportunity to help bring a novel assay to market, Meagan was chosen to head the department responsible for the testing. She has an interest in all areas of transplant medicine.

Cong Nguyen

Laboratory Supervisor

Since starting with Kashi Lab, Cong has worked tirelessly to meet the needs of consumers and patients, not only in the Portland-Metropolitan Area, but across the country.

Cong Nguyen is a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist. After graduating from the MLS program of OHSU/OIT in 2018, he joined Kashi Lab in 2019 as a lab tech in the Genotyping department. In 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cong played an instrumental role in the set up and operation of the SARS-COV2 testing in our Virology Department. He was later promoted to lab supervisor of the NOVUS CMD division where he supervises the Genotyping, Virology and Toxicology departments.

Madison Statler

Laboratory Supervisor

Madison graduated with magna cum laude honors from Oregon State University in 2018 with a B.S. in Biological Engineering.

Madison joined the Kashi team in 2022, when she began as a technician in the Transcriptomics MMDx department, testing heart and kidney post-transplant compatibility. She has since worked in the genetic testing SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) department, as well as the Toxicology department. She is currently the Laboratory Supervisor of operations, working with members of all departments to improve and streamline processes.

Jenefer DeKoning, PhD

Scientific Director

Jenefer J. DeKoning, Ph.D., is Scientific Director of the Research and Development division of Kashi Clinical Laboratories.

Dr. DeKoning began her career conducting research in T-cell development in the Department of Immunology at The Scripps Research Institute. Additionally, she served as a staff scientist in the Oregon Health & Science University’s Transgenic Core Facility. Prior to joining Kashi, Dr. DeKoning was at Washington State University in Vancouver for nearly 10 years in the Department of Biological Sciences, designing approaches and methodology in genetic mapping and honing her skills and interest in Next Generation Sequencing. As Scientific Director, Dr. DeKoning is responsible for the successful development and implementation of innovative genetic testing. She has numerous peer-reviewed publications, posters, and presentations.

Sample Collection

Watch the video for information on how to collect specimen samples.

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Sample Collection

Environmental Testing | Kashi Clinical Laboratories

Kashi Laboratories works directly with providers to make ordering tests as easy as possible.

To request environmental testing at Kashi Labs, please visit the Order Now page and contact us to get started.

Kashi Laboratories works directly with providers to make ordering tests as easy as possible.

To request toxicology testing at Kashi Labs, please visit the Order Now page and contact us to get started.

What can we help you find?

Place a one-time order for genetic testing at order.kashilab.com.

If you are an existing provider, please sign in to place an order through the online portal. If you are new to Kashi and would like to create an account, please contact us.

Kashi Laboratories works directly with providers to make ordering tests as easy as possible.

Place a one-time order by contacting us through the form at the link below, or get started by logging in to your online portal.

Ordering a kit is easy! To purchase a Private Testing Kit, please visit the link below and follow the steps provided.

BoneMarrowTest.com is a service of Kashi Clinical Laboratories. For more information regarding Private HLA Testing or to order a test kit, please visit BoneMarrowTest.com.

*By clicking the link above you will be redirected to BoneMarrowTest.com.

Antibody Testing | HLA Antibody Testing | Kashi Clinical Laboratories

Kashi Labs has partnered with ThermoFisher Scientific to bring MMDx® to our patients and providers.

To place an order or find more information regarding MMDx® for Molecular Biopsy Assessment, sample reports, and free specimen collection kit orders, please click the order button.

*By clicking the link above you'll be redirected to the ThermoFisher Scientific website.