Leveraging Innovation to Improve the Identification of Patients with Hereditary Cancer with Rachid Karam, MD, PhD, Kory Jasperson, CGC, Karen Powell, MS, CGC

• In this session, we will demonstrate how technical advancements, specifically RNA genetic testing, improves the diagnostic yield of hereditary cancer panel testing, by reviewing current data and highlighting specific case examples. We will also describe the benefits of an end-to-end solution which leverages chatbot technologies to systematically distribute a risk assessment questionnaire, identify patients eligible for testing or at increased risk for certain cancers, and provide access to genetics resources, including genetic counseling. Additionally, we will highlight how genetic counselors can play a pivotal role in implementing this approach within their health system.

Rachid Karam, MD, PhD | Presenter

Associate Director of Ambry’s Translational Genomics (ATG) Lab.

Rachid obtained his medical degree in Brazil, at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, one of the most reputable medical schools in the country. Rachid has a PhD in Oncogenetics, and did his graduate studies on the role of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway in the regulation of the CDH1 gene expression, at University of Porto, in Europe, and at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. He did his postdoc at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, where he focused on RNA biology research. Rachid joined Ambry Genetics in 2014, and currently he is the Director of Ambry’s Translational Genomics (ATG) Lab.

Kory Jasperson, MS,CGC | Presenter

Sr Medical Affairs Specialist

Kory Jasperson, MS, CGC is a Board-certified genetic counselor in the Medical Affairs Department at Ambry Genetics. He has over 10 years of clinical cancer genetics experience and also completed a cancer genetics fellowship at City of Hope. Mr. Jasperson co-founded the Lynch Syndrome Screening Network (LSSN) and was previously Vice-Chair of both the Hereditary Colon Cancer Foundation and two National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Mr. Jasperson has over 50 research publications, many of which involve hereditary gastrointestinal cancers.