'I could live a hundred lives and not meet as amazing of a person as Dave'
Dr. David Ahlquist, a groundbreaking Mayo Clinic researcher who helped provide the first major alternative to a colonoscopy, died Sunday from complications related to ALS. He was 69.
Dr. Ahlquist’s medical research earned him numerous patents and culminated with the release of Cologuard, a non-invasive colon cancer screening, in conjunction with Madison, Wis.-based diagnostic firm Exact Sciences. Four and a half million people have taken the Cologuard test since its approval, the majority of those coming in the past 12 months.
Dr. Ahlquist was also the father of Brooke Carlson, one of two candidates for the Rochester City Council President seat. She said she took time away from the campaign trail to be closer to her father in his final days, adding it was the “privilege of her life” to have her father’s support.
“Beyond inspiring me to be my very best self to make the most meaningful change, he touched countless lives and contributed significantly to the field of medicine,” said Carlson. “While it is heartbreaking not to have him with me on Election Day, he would've said the exact same thing regardless of the outcome: ‘Great, you gave it your very best. Now, what will you do with it?’"
Dr. Ahlquist’s Legacy
A 1977 graduate of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Dr. Ahlquist spent 36 years on staff as a gastroenterologist. He spent 20 of those years inside Mayo Clinic Laboratories, researching what would eventually become Cologuard.
The test was approved by the FDA in 2014, after a study showed it had a 94 percent detection rate for early-stage colon cancer — roughly the same as a standard colonoscopy. Mayo Clinic says Cologuard drastically increased the amount of people willing to get screened for colon cancer, saving thousands of lives as a result.
“It was a dream come true in many ways, the culmination of so much effort,” said Ahlquist in an interview with WCCO after Cologuard’s release.
For his efforts, Dr. Ahlquist received the inaugural Mayo Clinic “Distinguished Inventor” award in 2018 and was elected to the National Academy of Inventors Fellows Program in December 2019 — the “highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors,” according to the Clinic.
Dr. Ahlquist was diagnosed with ALS — commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — in July 2019. Despite the diagnosis, however, he stayed active in his medical work, fulfilling his role as Exact Sciences’ chief scientific advisor through most of October.
Kevin Conroy, chairman and CEO of Exact Sciences, said Dr. Ahlquist’s vision and determination were unmatched in the medical field.
“I could live a hundred lives and not meet as amazing of a person as Dave,” said Conroy. “He pushed us to dream big dreams, with his oft-repeated calls to arms: ‘Hard is not an excuse for not trying,’ and ‘If we can, we must.’”
Dr. Ahlquist is survived by his wife, Susan, and his three children: Aaron, Daniel, and the aforementioned Brooke.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
Cover photo: Dr. Ahlquist, right, with Hatim Allawi, VP of Research & Technology Development at Exact Sciences / courtesy Exact Sciences
