Program Leadership, Instructors, Clinical Supervisors, Committees
The leadership, faculty members, clinical supervisors and researchers in genetics and genetic counseling who work with the UPenn MSGC program have extensive experience in Genetic Counseling education. They are passionate about their work and committed to providing the best possible education to their students, to offering outstanding experiences in research and clinical training, and to preparing them to be successful professionals who will advance the field of genetic counseling.
- Program Leadership
- Institutional Leadership and Advisory Committee
- Course Directors and Instructors
- Lead Clinical Supervisors
Program Leadership
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Read More about Kathleen Valverde, PhD, LCGC
Kathleen Valverde, PhD, LCGC
Program Director
Kathleen.Valverde@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215-573-3777
Dr. Valverde’s is Assistant Professor, Clinician-Educator, in the Department of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. Her professional background includes over twenty-five years of experience in program leadership at two of the largest genetic counseling programs in the United States - Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Pennsylvania (formerly at Arcadia University). Since its founding in 1995, she has been the assistant director, thesis mentor, instructor, and professor of the UPenn/Arcadia program; and since 2004, she has served as the Program Director, She has graduated nearly 400 genetic counselors. For her outstanding service to Arcadia University, she was named Professor of the Year in 2018, the highest faculty honor the University can give.
Dr. Valverde received a BA in Psychology from Binghamton University, an MS in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College, and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Salus University in 2020. She has more than twenty years of experience in clinical training and supervision, as the fieldwork facilitator at Sarah Lawrence College and then clinical coordinator at Arcadia University; and is an expert in genetic counseling education. Her research has focused on genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, with the belief that communicating risk and determining the appropriate timing for testing are essential components for an effective counseling session, thus facilitating the patient’s experience. Her first-hand experience with genetic testing as a member of a BRCA family has given her insight into how families grapple with the complex issues of being tested and communicating results among family members. She has recently studied coping and resiliency in adults with primary mitochondrial disease. Her professional and personal experiences with genetic counseling have informed her practice and advocacy for patients and their families.
Dr. Valverde has long been a leader in the field, active in all the national and state organizations that support genetic counselors and the profession. She served on the ABGC separation committee that resulted in the creation of the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling, and then later as a founding board member of the ACGC. She has also served as treasurer on the Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors’ executive board. She co-chaired the ACGC committee to rewrite the Standards of Accreditation for Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling and the AGCPD committee to review options for the algorithm match system for admissions. For seven years, she served as chair of the Pennsylvania Genetic Counseling Licensure Committee. Her service concluded with Governor Tom Corbett inviting her to Harrisburg to witness the signing of the licensure bill into law in 2012.
Dr. Valverde is the Academic Co-Director for the Online Review Course in Medical Genetics and Genetic Counseling. She is a Primary Investigator for two five-year projects funded by generous grants from the Warren Alpert Foundation: the Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling (AID-GC) and the Career Ladder Education Program for Genetic Counselors (CLEP-GC), which provides continuing educational opportunities for genetic counselors.
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Read More about Lisa J. Kessler, MS, LCGC
Lisa J. Kessler, MS, LCGC
Associate Director
lisa.kessler@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215-573-7561
Ms. Kessler is the Director of Clinical Education and Associate Program Director at the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the University of Pennsylvania’s site coordinator for the Warren Alpert Foundation: Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling. Since joining the program in 2012, Ms. Kessler has been responsible for coordination of clinical education, working with the students to create a tailored clinical training experience for each individual. Fieldwork experiences are varied and include genetic counseling opportunities in labs, research, telehealth, and multiple specialty settings. In addition to coordination of fieldwork, Ms. Kessler is a course director and thesis mentor.
Prior to program leadership, Ms. Kessler's professional background includes 13 years of genetic counseling experience in clinical, research, and industry settings. She previously worked in the Division of Medical Genetics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, caring for patients and families with a variety of genetic conditions. As part of a dynamic research team, Ms. Kessler conducted research about culturally tailored cancer genetic counseling in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Working as a Senior Genetic Counselor at a start-up company, DNA Direct, she gained experience in telephone genetic counseling. Ms. Kessler then returned to the University of Pennsylvania, to the Genetic Diagnostic Laboratory, where she provided genetic counseling to individuals with Ocular Melanoma about molecular prognostic testing on tumor tissue. Ms. Kessler’s research interests include the role of culture in clinical supervision, supervision training, standardized patients in genetic counseling graduate education, mentorship, and cultural humility and genetic counseling,
Ms. Kessler serves on the Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion committee and on the Match committee for the Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors. She is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Genetic Counseling. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware and a Master of Science Degree in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University.
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Read More about Tiffiney Roberts Hartman, PhD, LCGC
Tiffiney Roberts Hartman, PhD, LCGC
Assistant Director
tiff.hartman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Hartman is the Assistant Director of the MSGC program and the Associate Director of the Advanced Research Training for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program. She is also the course instructor for GENC 6010 - Advanced Genetics and Genomics.
Dr. Hartman received a BS in Biology from the University of Akron and a PhD in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating Dr Hartman moved to Philadelphia to work as a PostDoc at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Over the next several years she worked on the bench doing basic research on human genetic diseases, stem cells, and cancer using cell culture, Drosophila, and mouse models. Dr. Hartman was promoted to Assistant Research Professor in 2014 and her lab focused on the role of cholesterol in Hedgehog signaling in pancreatic cancer. In 2017 she returned to school at Arcadia University to get a master’s degree in Genetic Counseling. After graduating in 2019 she joined the Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where she directed the Research Core. She also saw pediatric patients with a wide variety of genetic conditions with a specialized focus on children with hearing loss. In 2023, Dr. Hartman joined the University of Pennsylvania Master’s in Genetic Counseling Program full time to direct the Advanced Research Training for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program, and in 2024 she became the Assistant Director of the master's program.
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Read More about Rebecca Mueller, PhD, LCGC
Rebecca Mueller, PhD, LCGC
Director of Research
rebecca.mueller@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Director of Research
Dr. Mueller is the Director of Research for the MSGC Program and the Advanced Research Training Program for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program. She is also the course instructor for the GENC 6140 Introduction to Genetic Counseling Research course.
Dr. Mueller received her BA in American Studies from Barnard College, an MS in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University, a PhD in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a T32 postdoctoral fellowship in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mueller worked as a Cancer Genetic Counselor at Pennsylvania Hospital and Penn’s Basser Center for BRCA, serving as Basser’s inaugural outreach coordinator and as a research genetic counselor on studies of alternative service delivery models for genetic counseling. She also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Warren Alpert Foundation’s Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling grant and on the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Transfer.
Dr. Mueller’s research focuses primarily on the experience of adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions. Her doctoral research used cystic fibrosis as a case study of new diagnostic technologies, risk, and community and was awarded the Jack D. Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome Career Development Award in 20th Century History of Medicine or Biomedical Sciences in 2022. Dr. Mueller’s research uses a disability lens to explore the ethical and social implications of prognostic uncertainty in genetics by focusing on the experiences of adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions that have shifting prognostic implications such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and beta thalassemia major. She developed the concept of prognostic imagination which denotes what individuals can envision, fear, dream, or plan for their lives in light of diagnostic or prognostic information and it guides her research on how adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions plan for the future amid therapeutic innovation. Dr. Mueller has also collaborated on studies of alternative service delivery models for genetic counseling, curricular issues in genetic counseling, and social and ethical implications of integrating genomic technologies into pediatric and neonatal care.
Dr. Mueller has been involved with the MSGC program as an instructor and thesis mentor since 2014 and joined the program as Director of Research in July 2024.
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Read More about Jo MacKenzie, MA
Jo MacKenzie, MA
Program Coordinator
jo.mackenzie@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215-573-5040
Ms. MacKenzie has worked with the genetic counseling program since 2011. She facilitates aspects of the program from admissions through alumni reunions and aims to make everyone else's work easier. Prior to this, she had a career in the book world, in publishing as Publicity Manager at Candlewick Press and in non-profit organizations Beginning with Books and the Southern Festival of Books. Wherever she works, she enjoys creating systems to help organizations run more smoothly. Ms. MacKenzie graduated with a BA in history from Baylor University and earned her MA in history from Vanderbilt University where she studied early modern Britain and Ireland and women's history.
Institutional Leadership and Advisory Committee
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Read More about Daniel J. Rader, MDDaniel J. Rader, MD
Chair, Department of Genetics at PSOM and Chief, Division of Human Genetics and Metabolic Disease Program at CHOP
Daniel J. Rader, MD
Chair, Department of Genetics at PSOM and Chief, Division of Human Genetics and Metabolic Disease Program at CHOP
Dr. Rader is the Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as the Chair of the Department of Genetics as well as the Chief of the Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics in the Department of Medicine. He is also Associate Director of Penn’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, and is co-director of the Penn Medicine Biobank.
Dr. Rader’s research focuses on the human genetics and functional genomics of lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis, as well as the translational implications for novel therapeutic approaches. He has had a long interest in novel therapeutic approaches to unmet medical needs in the treatment of severe dyslipidemia. He led the scientific and clinical development of a first-in-class inhibitor of microsomal transfer protein for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. He also has a particular interest in HDL metabolism and function, and novel approaches to targeting HDL metabolism and reverse cholesterol transport in the treatment, prevention, and regression of atherosclerosis.
Dr Rader trained in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and in human genetics and physiology of lipoprotein metabolism at the National Institutes of Health. He has been on the Penn faculty since 1994. He is a recipient of several national awards, including the Clinical Research Award from the American Heart Association. He is currently the deputy editor of the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Familial Hypercholesterolemia Foundation, and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Atherosclerosis, the Board of External Experts of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and the Advisory Board for Clinical Research for the NIH. Dr. Rader has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (now the National Academy of Medicine).
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Read More about Emma A. Meagher, MDEmma A. Meagher, MD
Associate Dean of Master’s Programs, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Emma A. Meagher, MD
Associate Dean of Master’s Programs, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Emma A. Meagher, MD, serves as Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Meagher graduated cum laude with her medical doctorate degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, and completed postgraduate training in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Pharmacology.
Dr. Meagher's educational interests are in the fields of translational research methodology and career development for graduate and pre- and postdoctoral students; and novel modalities for education in pharmacology for undergraduate medical students. Dr. Meagher's research interest is in the development of novel therapeutics in dyslipidemia. Her clinical practice focused on cardiovascular risk modification, with an emphasis on dyslipidemia management, hypertension, and women's cardiovascular health.
In her roles as Vice Dean and Chief Clinical Research Officer, and as Senior Associate Vice Provost for Human Research, Dr. Meagher oversees the institution’s clinical research infrastructure and its portfolio, and sets the strategy for Penn Medicine’s clinical research enterprise. In her roles as Associate Dean for PSOM Master’s and Certificate Programs, and as Director of Translational Research Education, Dr. Meagher is responsible for the rapidly growing portfolio of professional education opportunities provided by the Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Meagher is certified as a Master Trainer via the NIH-funded National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN). At Penn, she has implemented a Research Mentor and Mentee Training program for investigators conducting clinical and translational science. Dr. Meagher has received recognition for her efforts in education through numerous teaching awards, including the university's highest teaching honor, the Lindback Award for Medical Education (2005), and the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (2014).
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Read More about Donna McDonald-McGinn, MS, LCGCDonna McDonald-McGinn, MS, LCGC
Senior Consultant for Professional Development and Genetic Counseling Practice
Donna McDonald-McGinn, MS, LCGC
Senior Consultant for Professional Development and Genetic Counseling Practice
Donna McDonald-McGinn is a senior genetic counselor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she also serves as associate director of Clinical Genetics and head of the Section of Genetic Counseling. She has been instrumentally involved with the genetic counseling master's program from before the first students were accepted at Arcadia University in the mid-1990s through til today, providing clinical supervision, a thesis mentorship and classroom lectures to students in the program for the past 25 years..
She is Director of the 22q and You Center at CHOP, and she joined parent activists in establishing the International 22q11.2 Foundation and other professionals in establishing the 22q11.2 Society, the International 22q11.2DS Modifier Gene Consortium, and the International 22q11.2 Brain and Behavior Consortium.
As a teacher and researcher, she received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Medical Student Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania; was named a Stokes Investigator at CHOP; received the Angelo DiGeorge Memorial Medal of Honor; and was appointed Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor McDonald-McGinn has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer reviewed original articles, over 300 abstracts, 12 book chapters, an annual Newsletter for families, and a Handbook for families and professionals on 22q11.2DS. She serves as a reviewer for more than 10 journals, has sat on more than 25 academic committees, and has presented as an invited speaker at more than 60 scientific/family meetings including multiple Grand Rounds presentations.
Finally, she has partnered with family organizations in numerous ways to improve detection, awareness, care, and quality of life including: establishing pediatric and adult healthcare guidelines for patients with 22q11.2DS; petitioning governments towards initiating newborn screening for 22q11.2DS; organizing events such as 22k for 22q; 22q and Boo; and conceiving, organizing and overseeing a now annual event: 22q at the Zoo - Worldwide Awareness Day. -
Read More about Advisory CommitteeAdvisory Committee
Advisory Committee
Katherine L. Nathanson, MD - Chair
- Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Professor of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Pearl Basser Professor for BRCA-Related Research
- Deputy Director, Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
- Director of Genetics, Basser Center for BRCA, Penn Medicine
Curtis Coughlin, II, PhD, MBe, CGC
- Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora
- Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora
- Genetic Counselor, Section of Genetics and Metabolism, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
- Program alum, 2001
Shannan DeLaney Dixon, MS, CGC
- Director, Master’s in Genetic Counseling Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Program alum, 1998
Peggy Dolan
- Founder and longtime Executive Director of the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund
- Community Member
Beverly Emanuel, PhD
- Professor and Former Chief of the Division of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
- Charles E.H. Upham Endowed Chair in Pediatric Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
Philip Giampietro, MD, PhD
- Professor and Chief, Section of Pediatric Genetics, University of Illinois College of Medicine
- Clinical Geneticist, Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois Health
Ian D. Krantz, MD
- Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Professor of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Attending physician in the Division of Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Director of the Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Director of the Center for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and Related Diagnoses, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Donna McDonald-McGinn, MSGC, LGC
- Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Chief, Section of Genetic Counseling, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Director, 22q and You Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Associate Director, Clinical Genetics Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Michael Mennuti, MD
- Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Julie S. Moldenhauer, MD, FACOG, FACMG
- George Leib Harrison Endowed Chair in Fetal Therapy, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Medical Director of the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Director of Obstetrical Services in the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
- Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology in Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Virginia Speare, PhD, CGC
- Manager, Clinical Collaborations, Ambry Genetics Corporation, retired
Nancy B. Spinner, PhD, FACMG
- Chief of the Division of Genomic Diagnostics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
- Evelyn Willing Bromley Endowed Chair in Pathology and Clinical Laboratories
- Professor of Pathology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Professor of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Jill Stopfer, MS, CGC
- Associate Director of Genetic Counseling, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
- Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The MGH Institute of Health Professions
Amy Sturm, MS, CGC
- Director, MyCode Genomic Screening and Counseling Program, Geisinger Genomic Medical Institute
- Director, Cardiovascular Genomic Counseling, Geisinger Genomic Medical Institute
- Past President, National Society of Genetic Counselors
Vivian Weinblatt, MS, CGC
- Director of Clinical Education, Integrated Genetics
Elaine Zackai, MD
- Director of Clinical Genetics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Letitia B. and Alice Scott Endowed Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Professor of Pediatrics in Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Daniel J. Rader, MD (ex officio)
- Chair, Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
- Chief of the Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
- Chief of the Division of Human Genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Associate Director of Penn’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
- Co-director of the Penn Medicine Biobank
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Read More about Working CommitteesWorking Committees
Working Committees
Admissions Committee
The Admissions Committee will participate in recruitment and evaluation of applicants to the program with the goal of identifying the most highly qualified candidates and increasing diversity. Committee members will participate directly in the admissions process by reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and engaging in recruitment activities.
*Dana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGC – Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, University of Pennsylvania
*Stacy Woychiechowski, MS, LCGC – Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Taylor Apostolico, MS, LCGC – Abramson Cancer Center, Pennsylvania Hospital
Melanie Charles, MS, CGC – Humana
Nicole Engelhardt, MS, LCGC – Metabolic Disease Program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Dan Gallo, MS, LCGC – Division of Genomic Diagnostics, CHOP
Lily Hoffman-Andrews, MS, LCGC – Penn Center for Inherited Cardiac Disease
Janette Lawrence, MS, LCGC – Center for Cancer Risk Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital
Jackie Leonard, MS, LCGC – Roberts Individualized Medical Genetic Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Danielle McKenna, MS, LCGC – Cancer Risk Evaluation Program University of Pennsylvania
Anna Raper, MS, LCGC – Division of Medical Genetics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Sara Reichert, MS, LCGC – Genomic Diagnostic Laboratory, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Erica Schindewolf, MS, LCGC – Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Natalia Wisniewski, MS, LCGC –OB/GYN Genetics, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania
Clinical Education Committee
The Clinical Education Committee will assess clinical education practice with respect to the ACGC Practice Based Competencies and Standards for Accreditation. Committee members will be clinical supervisors who can provide oversight to ensure that students are exposed to the necessary depth and breadth of clinical experience, including participation in fundamental counseling roles for core cases.
*Holly Dubbs, MS, LCGC – Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
*Jessica Long, MS, LCGC – Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
Taylor Apostolico, MS, LCGC – Abramson Cancer Center, Pennsylvania Hospital
Emma Bedoukian, MS, LCGC – Individualized Medical Genetics Center, CHOP
Cara Cacioppo, MS, LCGC – Telegenetics Program, University of Pennsylvania
Jessica Ebrahimzadeh, MS, LCGC – Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
Evan Hathaway, MS, LCGC – Division of Human Genetics, CHOP
Rose Giardine, MS, LCGC – Reproductive Genetics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Beth Keena, MS, LCGC – Clinical Genetics Department, CHOP
Lauren Lulis, MS, LCGC – Section of Metabolic Disease, CHOP
Colleen Muraresku, MS, LCGC – Mitochondrial Disease Clinical Center, CHOP
Alyssa Rippert, MS, LCGC –The Cardiac Center, Clinical Genetics, CHOP
Curriculum Committee
The Curriculum Committee will be responsible for regular review of the curriculum. Members will review course evaluations and syllabi to ensure course content is meeting goals of the program and adhering to ACGC Practice Based Competencies and Standards for Accreditation.
*Stephanie Asher, MS, LCGC – Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Penn Medicine
*Livija Medne, MS, LCGC – Roberts Individualized Medical Genetic Center, Dept of Neurology, CHOP
Meron Azage, MS, LCGC – Associate Director of Genetic Counseling, Dept of Neurology, Penn Medicine
Elizabeth DeChene, MS, LCGC – Division of Genomic Diagnostics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Margaret Harr, MS, LCGC – Center for Applied Genomics, CHOP
David Lieberman, MS, LCGC – Center for Personalized Diagnostics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Jacquelyn Powers, MS, LCGC – Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, University of Pennsylvania
Sarah Raible, MS, LCGC – Clinical Genetics Center, CHOP; Clinical Director of the CdLS Center, CHOP
Kristin Zelley, MS, LCGC – Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Research Committee
The committee will support student research including publication and other dissemination of students’ scholarly endeavors. Committee members will be genetic counselors with research experience who will themselves serve as thesis mentors.
*Tiffiney Hartman, MS – Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center, CHOP
*Elisabeth Wood, MS, LCGC – Telegenetics Program, University of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth DeChene, MS, LCGC – Division of Genomic Diagnostics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Kierstin Keller, MS, LCGC – Center for Mitochondria and Epigenomic Medicine, CHOP
Elizabeth McCormick, MS, LCGC – Mitochondrial Disease Clinical Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Donna McDonald-McGinn, MS, LCGC – Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania; Chief, Section of Genetic Counseling; Director, 22q and You Center; Associate Director, Clinical Genetics Center, CHOP
Rebecca Mueller, PhD, MS, LCGC – Fellow in Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania
Anna Raper, MS, LCGC – Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Sarah Ruggiero, MS, LCGC – Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative, CHOP
Kelsey Spielman, MS, LCGC – Basser Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center
McKenzie Wells, MS, LCGC – Friedreich's Ataxia Clinical Research Coordinator, CHOP
Mentoring Committee
*Natalie Burrill, MS, LCGC – Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
*James Peterson, MS, LCGC – Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program, CHOP
Jessica Chowns, MS, LCGC – Penn Center for Inherited Cardiac Disease, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
Sarah Donoghue, MS, LCGC – Clinical Genetics, CHOP
Christopher Gray, MS, LCGC – Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center, Division of Human Genetics, CHOP
Brianna Gross, MS, LCGC – Neuromuscular Genetics, CHOP
Lily Hoffman-Andrews, MS, LCGC – Penn Center for Inherited Cardiac Disease, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
Sarah McKeown Ruggiero, MS, LCGC – Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative, CHOP
McKenzie Wells, MS, LCGC – Friedreich's Ataxia Program, CHOP
* Committee chairs
Course Directors and Instructors
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Read More about Stephanie Byers Asher, MS LCGCStephanie Byers Asher, MS LCGC
Co-Director, Professional Development Series
Stephanie Byers Asher, MS LCGC
Co-Director, Professional Development Series
Stephanie Byers Asher, MS LCGC, has been a genetic counselor for over 10 years. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center MSGC program, she worked as a laboratory genetic counselor and in the Section of Metabolic Disease at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Now Associate Director of Genetic Counseling in the Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, Asher’s clinical practice has focused on rare cancer syndromes and adult genetics. She is the co-director for the Professional Development course and is a clinical supervisor and member of student thesis committees for the University of Pennsylvania MSGC program.
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Read More about Dana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGCDana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Cancer Genetics course
Dana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Cancer Genetics course
Dana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGC has been a practicing cancer genetic counselor for over nineteen years. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh MSGC program, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, MD Anderson at Cooper, and now at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Her clinical practice focuses on genetics education and testing for patients with a personal or family history of cancer and her research interests are precision medicine and testing for individuals with cancer. Clark is a co-director of our Cancer Genetics course, and she teaches cancer genetics at local medical and nursing schools as well as to lay audiences across the country. She has published multiple peer reviewed articles and presented at national genetics meetings. She is a longtime clinical supervisor.
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Read More about Elizabeth T. DeChene, MS, LCGCElizabeth T. DeChene, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Elizabeth T. DeChene, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Previously Project Coordinator & Genetic Counselor for PEDISEQ: The Pediatric Genetic Sequencing Project at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, DeChene moved to the Division of Genomic Diagnostics in 2014. She is a course director for Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics and a longtime clinical supervisor. She received her MS in Genetic Counseling at Brandeis University.
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Read More about Holly Dubbs, MS, LCGCHolly Dubbs, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Medical Genetics course
Holly Dubbs, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Medical Genetics course
Holly A. Dubbs, MS, LCGC, is a senior genetic counselor with the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) and the Division of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She works with the Pediatric Epilepsy Program and the Leukodystrophy Center. She has published extensively in the field of neurogenetics.
She graduated from Lafayette University with a degree in Neuroscience, and she received her Master's degree in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University in 2008.
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Read More about Matthew C. Dulik, PhD, DABMGMatthew C. Dulik, PhD, DABMG
Co-Director, Foundations of Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Matthew C. Dulik, PhD, DABMG
Co-Director, Foundations of Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Dr. Dulik is a director in the Division of Genomic Diagnostics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is course director for the laboratory portion of the first year Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics course in the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program. He received a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and completed fellowships in Clinical Cytogenetics - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Molecular Genetics - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Read More about Rose Giardine, MS, LCGCRose Giardine, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course
Rose Giardine, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course
Rose Giardine received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling in 1986 from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a Genetic Counselor for 34 years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the Division of Reproductive Genetics. In her role as a genetic counselor she has served as a consultant for families with cystic fibrosis from both Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was involved in the early pilot studies regarding testing for CF mutations in the general population. She also serves as a Reproductive Genetic Counselor for the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She has served on the Patient Education Committee and is currently serving on the Committee on Genetics for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the American Society of Human Genetics.
She is an Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as well as for the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program, where she is co-director of the Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course. A longtime clinical supervisor, she was chosen by the genetic counseling students as Outstanding Supervisor for 2020.
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Read More about Tiffiney Roberts Hartman, PhD, LCGCTiffiney Roberts Hartman, PhD, LCGC
Course Director for GENC 6010 - Advanced Genetics and Genomics
Tiffiney Roberts Hartman, PhD, LCGC
Course Director for GENC 6010 - Advanced Genetics and Genomics
Dr. Hartman received a BS in Biology from the University of Akron and a PhD in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating Dr Hartman moved to Philadelphia to work as a PostDoc at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Over the next several years she worked on the bench doing basic research on human genetic diseases, stem cells, and cancer using cell culture, Drosophila, and mouse models. Dr. Hartman was promoted to Assistant Research Professor in 2014 and her lab focused on the role of cholesterol in Hedgehog signaling in pancreatic cancer. In 2017 she returned to school at Arcadia University to get a master’s degree in Genetic Counseling. After graduating in 2019 she joined the Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where she directed the Research Core. She also saw pediatric patients with a wide variety of genetic conditions with a specialized focus on children with hearing loss. In 2023, Dr. Hartman joined the University of Pennsylvania Master’s in Genetic Counseling Program full time to direct the Advanced Research Training for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program, and in 2024 she became the Assistant Director of the MSGC program.
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Read More about Elizabeth McCormick, MS, LCGCElizabeth McCormick, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Biochemical Genetics
Elizabeth McCormick, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Biochemical Genetics
Elizabeth McCormick is a certified genetic counselor and research coordinator in Mitochondrial Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has researched and published extensively on the diagnosis and treatment of Mitochondrial disease. She is also a regular thesis mentor, guiding genetic counseling student research. She received her MS in Genetic Counseling at Arcadia University, Glenside, PA.
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Read More about Danielle McKenna, MS, LCGCDanielle McKenna, MS, LCGC
Co-director, Cancer Genetics course
Danielle McKenna, MS, LCGC
Co-director, Cancer Genetics course
Danielle McKenna, MS, LCGC, is a genetic counselor at the Abramson Cancer Center of Penn Medicine, and specializes in hereditary breast cancer syndromes and transgender populations. She is a longtime clinical supervisor and thesis mentor for the Genetic Counseling Program, and is the co-director of the Cancer Genetics course. She earned her MSGC degree at Arcadia University, and was recently named to Arcadia's 40 Under 40 list of exceptional alumni.
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Read More about Livija Medne, MS, LCGCLivija Medne, MS, LCGC
Co-Director of the Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Livija Medne, MS, LCGC
Co-Director of the Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomics course
Livija Medne, MS, LCGC, is System Director of Genetic Counseling at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She specializes in genotype-phenotype correlation in neurologic diseases and has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications.
She is the co-director of the Foundations in Clinical Genetics and Genomic Technologies course as well as a longtime clinical supervisor and thesis advisor for the University of Pennsylvania MSGC program. She also teaches medical students in the Perelman School of Medicine, where she has received two awards for her teaching. She received her MS in Genetic Counseling at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Read More about Rebecca Mueller, PhD, LCGCRebecca Mueller, PhD, LCGC
Course Director, Introduction to Genetic Counseling Research
Rebecca Mueller, PhD, LCGC
Course Director, Introduction to Genetic Counseling Research
Course Director - GENC 6140 Introduction to Genetic Counseling Research
Dr. Mueller is the Director of Research for the MSGC Program and the Advanced Research Training Program for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program. She is also the course instructor for the GENC 6140 Introduction to Genetic Counseling Research course.
Dr. Mueller received her BA in American Studies from Barnard College, an MS in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University, a PhD in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a T32 postdoctoral fellowship in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mueller worked as a Cancer Genetic Counselor at Pennsylvania Hospital and Penn’s Basser Center for BRCA, serving as Basser’s inaugural outreach coordinator and as a research genetic counselor on studies of alternative service delivery models for genetic counseling. She also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Warren Alpert Foundation’s Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling grant and on the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Transfer.
Dr. Mueller’s research focuses primarily on the experience of adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions. Her doctoral research used cystic fibrosis as a case study of new diagnostic technologies, risk, and community and was awarded the Jack D. Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome Career Development Award in 20th Century History of Medicine or Biomedical Sciences in 2022. Dr. Mueller’s research uses a disability lens to explore the ethical and social implications of prognostic uncertainty in genetics by focusing on the experiences of adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions that have shifting prognostic implications such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and beta thalassemia major. She developed the concept of prognostic imagination which denotes what individuals can envision, fear, dream, or plan for their lives in light of diagnostic or prognostic information and it guides her research on how adults with childhood-onset genetic conditions plan for the future amid therapeutic innovation. Dr. Mueller has also collaborated on studies of alternative service delivery models for genetic counseling, curricular issues in genetic counseling, and social and ethical implications of integrating genomic technologies into pediatric and neonatal care.
Dr. Mueller has been involved with the MSGC program as an instructor and thesis mentor since 2014 and joined the program as Director of Research in July 2024.
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Read More about Colleen Clarke Muraresku, MS, LCGCColleen Clarke Muraresku, MS, LCGC
Co-director, Biochemical Genetics
Colleen Clarke Muraresku, MS, LCGC
Co-director, Biochemical Genetics
Colleen Muraresku, MS, CGC, is a senior genetic counselor and Program Director of Mitochondrial Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has previously been both a pediatric and cancer genetic counselor. She has published, presented and lectured widely and serves regularly as a thesis advisor and clinical supervisor for genetic counseling students.
She is co-director of the Biochemical Genetics module of the Medical Genetics course.
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Read More about Jacquelyn Powers, MS, LCGCJacquelyn Powers, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Cancer Genetics course
Jacquelyn Powers, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Cancer Genetics course
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 in teaching and coordinating the Cancer Genetics course, in curriculum review, and as a clinical supervisor. 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.
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Read More about Erica Schindewolf, MS, LCGCErica Schindewolf, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course
Erica Schindewolf, MS, LCGC
Co-Director, Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course
Erica Schindewolf, MS, LCGC, is a certified genetic counselor in the Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she has worked since 2014. She has published and presented widely on fetal anomalies, and she is the co-director for the Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course and a longtime clinical supervisor. Schindewolf is also Genetic Counselor Discipline Director with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
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Read More about Cara Skraban, MDCara Skraban, MD
Course Co-Director, Foundations of Clinical Genetics and Genomics
Cara Skraban, MD
Course Co-Director, Foundations of Clinical Genetics and Genomics
Cara Skraban, MD, is an attending physician in the Division of Human Genetics and a clinical core leader in the Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She attended medical school and completed a pediatric residency at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, VA, before relocating to Philadelphia for a residency in Medical Genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Read More about Lewis J. Waber, MD, PhDLewis J. Waber, MD, PhD
Course Director, Mechanisms of Disease
Lewis J. Waber, MD, PhD
Course Director, Mechanisms of Disease
Dr. Waber is board certified in Pediatrics, Clinical Genetics and Clinical Biochemical Genetics.
Dr. Waber has been a biochemical geneticist for over three decades, working closely with genetic counselors throughout his career, teaching in medical schools, and directing the residency program in Medical Genetics at UT Southwestern. He has also been involved in curriculum design in medical education. He started his career in the Division of Pediatric Genetics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and was later recruited to Dallas to start a biochemical genetics program at UT Southwestern. While there he served as Attending Physician in Pediatrics at the Children’s Medical Center Dallas and at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, as Medical Director for Metabolism Services at Children’s Medical Center, as Director of the Division of Pediatric Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as Program Director for the Medical Genetics Residency Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and a Professor of Pediatrics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Southwestern Medical School.
We are fortunate that his retirement from UT Southwestern brought him home to Pennsylvania. He has been teaching Mechanisms of Disease for the Genetic Counseling Program for the past three years.
Lead Clinical Supervisors
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Read More about Rose Giardine, MS, LCGCRose Giardine, MS, LCGC
Senior Clinical Site Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania
Rose Giardine, MS, LCGC
Senior Clinical Site Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania
Rose Giardine received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling in 1986 from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a Genetic Counselor for 34 years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the Division of Reproductive Genetics. In her role as a genetic counselor she has served as a consultant for families with cystic fibrosis from both Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was involved in the early pilot studies regarding testing for CF mutations in the general population. She also serves as a Reproductive Genetic Counselor for the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She has served on the Patient Education Committee and is currently on the Committee on Genetics for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the American Society of Human Genetics.
She is an Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as well as for the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program, where she is co-director of the Reproductive and Developmental Genetics course. A longtime clinical supervisor, she was chosen by the genetic counseling students as Outstanding Supervisor for 2020.
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Read More about Beth Keena, MS, LCGCBeth Keena, MS, LCGC
Senior Site Coordinator, Children's Hosital of Philadelphia
Beth Keena, MS, LCGC
Senior Site Coordinator, Children's Hosital of Philadelphia
Beth A. Keena, MS, LCGC is a senior genetic counselor with the Division of Human Genetics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She earned her degree from Sarah Lawrence College.
