Navigating Transitions Between Telehealth and In-Person Clinic

Crescenda is a pediatric genetic counselor at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. She received her undergraduate degree in Genetics and Biochemistry from Texas A&M University in 2013 and her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2015. She moved back to Texas as quickly as she could, and now lives in Fort Worth. She used to commute by train, but now her commute is single flight of stairs. Her research interests include Whole Exome Sequencing data, phenotyping of rare conditions, and cost savings to families and hospitals generated by genetic counselors assisting with insurer coverage of genetic testing.

Jacquelyn Powers is a senior licensed genetic counselor who works for the division of hematology-oncology at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  Jacquelyn manages the facilitation of risk assessment and genetic testing for heritable breast, ovarian, and gastrointestinal cancer syndromes.  Jacquelyn interfaces directly with the Basser Center for BRCA, is a member of the GC Advisory Board for the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Association (LFSA) and has close involvement with UPenn’s Genetic Counseling graduate program serving roles both in teaching and curriculum review.  She has overseen Penn’s IMPACT study (Identification of Men with a Genetic Predisposition to Prostate Cancer: Targeted Screening in mutation carriers) since it’s 2008 inception and has presented nationally regarding this topic. Jacquelyn received her master’s in genetic counseling at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2008 and has resided in Philadelphia since time of graduation.

Maggie Miller, MS, CGC graduated from University of Minnesota as a Genetic Counselor in 2005. She returned home to Alaska to practice as an Oncology Genetic Counselor at Providence Cancer Center in Anchorage. Maggie is passionate about cancer prevention and enjoys educating patients, providers, and the lay public. Due to the complex geography of Alaska, Maggie has always offered telephone appointments, she was able to attend the Western States Regional Genetics Network’s Telegenetics training several years ago and is thankful for this combined experience during the COVID-19 transition to telehealth.

Patricia Arscott is a Cardiovascular Genetic Counselor in the Inherited Cardiomyopathy and Arrhythmia program at Michigan Medicine where she works with families in both pediatric and adult clinical settings. Prior to this she practiced as a cardiovascular genetic counselor at the Cleveland Clinic where she saw patients with a broad range of cardiovascular conditions including families with aortic and connective tissue conditions. She is a board-certified genetic counselor and graduate of the University of Michigan Genetic Counseling Program in 2008. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Cardiovascular Special Interest Group. She has a particular interest in promoting genetic counseling as an integral part of cardiovascular subspecialty care practices. As for many others, the COVID-19 pandemic provided the impetus to acquire new skills and adapt to a virtual service delivery model.

Megan Nathan is a certified genetic counselor and Cancer Genomic Science Liaison at Ambry Genetics. She completed her BS in Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California, which she attended as a Trustee Scholar. She received her MS in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Stanford University. After graduate school Megan worked for several years as a Cancer Genetic Counselor at Providence Health and Services in Anchorage, Alaska before transitioning to her current role at Ambry Genetics. As a Genomic Science Liaison for the Northwest and Midwest territories, she serves as a clinical liaison for the field team to educate health care providers and other key opinion leaders on genetic testing and genomic medicine.