About Us
The Company
Creative Clinical Concepts (CCC) was organized in 2002. Our mission is to promote and provide cost-effective utilization of clinical laboratory testing to assist in the prediction of risk, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and management of clinical disease states. Early identification of individuals at increased risk of clinical events and optimization of traditional and complementary and alternative therapeutic and preventative measures will enhance the quality of human life.
CCC was founded on a strong background of experience in clinical laboratory testing and research, with particular emphasis in the area of hemostasis, inflammation and laboratory medicine.
Chronic Inflammation Test
A test to measure 11-Dehydro Thromboxane B2 (major metabolite of Thromboxane A2) in urine was developed together with Corgenix, Inc., a Denver-based in-vitro diagnostic manufacturing company, and Cayman Chemical Company, an Ann Arbor, Michigan manufacturer of biochemical research products. In 2007, the FDA cleared the test under the trade name AspirinWorks® for the detection of aspirin’s effects in apparently healthy individuals. In 2016, CCC, in collaboration with AMS Laboratory in Wichita, Kansas, conducted an IRB-approved laboratory validation study to establish a reference range for the Chronic Inflammation Test as an inflammatory marker test. Inflammation was ruled out in the reference range population by utilizing hs-CRP, fibrinogen, and WBC testing together with personal history in apparently healthy individuals.
About Our Founder, Gordon E. Ens
Throughout his career, Gordon has been involved in clinical laboratory medicine, specializing in thrombosis, hemostasis and inflammation. This includes research and clinical laboratory testing, in-vitro diagnostic product support and pharmaceutical clinical trials. He now works to educate people on the utilization of laboratory testing in the diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of risk and the management of clinical disease states.
Gordon received his BA from Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS in 1963 and began his career as a research technologist in Dr. Kurt N. von Kaulla’s coagulation laboratory at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver, CO. While at the University of Colorado, he also earned a degree in medical technology. It was Dr. von Kaulla, a blood-clotting pioneer, who instilled in him the significance of thrombosis and hemostasis.
In 1968, Gordon passed the USPH Laboratory Director exam and became the assistant laboratory director of Paul Smith Laboratory in Denver, serving physician offices and nursing homes as well as manufacturing and distributing microbiology culture media.
In 1974, Gordon returned to the University of Colorado and spent a year conducting clinical research with Roger Hamstra, MD, studying the role of hemostasis in various disease states while assisting in the development of the Sienco Sonoclot, a visco-elastic clot detection instrument. This experience gave him the appreciation of the importance of the clinical state of the patient in the interpretation of laboratory test results and the need for state-of-the-art laboratory testing to assist in the diagnosis and management of patients.
Sensing the opportunity, in 1975, Gordon founded Colorado Coagulation Consultants (CCC) in Denver, CO, the first independent reference coagulation laboratory in the United States, and he served as Laboratory Director. CCC developed into a renowned national laboratory serving hospitals, universities, physicians, in-vitro diagnostic manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies.
While at CCC, Gordon also founded Clinical Hemostasis Review, a monthly subscription based educational publication for physicians and technologists. He also co-founded the American Thrombosis Association, a non-profit organization, as an educational resource in blood clotting for patients and the general public.
One night at a dinner for investigators in a clinical research study, Gordon heard the principal investigator of the study say, “The day is coming we will need to dose aspirin.” Recognizing the lack of an appropriate laboratory test to monitor aspirin’s effect, he began to search for a test. He discovered a urine test that measures a thromboxane metabolite (11-Dehydro Thromboxane B2), which is sensitive to measuring aspirin’s effect. He was granted a patent for the test, called AspirinWorks. The test is now cleared by the FDA to measure aspirin’s effect.
In 1998, Gordon sold CCC to Esoterix, Inc., now Lab Corp. and continued as president of the Coagulation Division through 2000. He also joined the Board of Directors and became a shareholder of Precision BioLogic in Halifax, NS, an in-vitro diagnostic manufacturer and distributor of coagulation products.
Gordon continued working with the urinary 11-Dehydro Thromboxane B2 test and formed Creative Clinical Concepts with the mission of increasing awareness of the importance of specialized laboratory testing in monitoring and maintaining wellness.
In 2008, the results of the landmark CHARISMA clinical trial in patients taking aspirin to prevent second cardiovascular events was published. Failure to lower thromboxane levels sufficiently resulted in a significantly increased risk of events. Recognizing that chronic inflammation is frequently the cause of aspirin therapy failure, Gordon began expanding the application for the test as a biomarker of inflammation, naming it the Chronic Inflammation Test.
In 2009, Gordon, together with Dr. Barry Sears from ZoneLabs in Marblehead, MA, established Inflammatory Markers Laboratory in Marblehead, MA. Serving as the laboratory director, he increased his knowledge of the significance of chronic/cellular inflammation in chronic diseases and the aging process.
The role of chronic inflammation in chronic diseases and the aging process is becoming quite clear and this awareness is growing rapidly. As the CEO of Creative Clinical Concepts, Gordon is focused on educating healthcare practitioners and patients as to the appropriate utilization of laboratory testing in the diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of risk and the management of therapy in a cost-effective manner.
Gordon has a major appreciation of the arts, in particular black and white photography, loves to travel with his wife Chris, and enjoys time with his family, including grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He also enjoys Kansas Jayhawks basketball and currently resides in Wichita, KS.
