Genetic Frontiers

Susanna Smith & Brandy Mello
  • 5.0 (6)
  • MEDICINE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY
Genetic Frontiers

A podcast about the promise, power, and perils of genetic information (geneticfrontiers.org)

Episodes

  1. Episode 6: The Eugenesis of Genetic Counseling

    4 DAYS AGO

    Episode 6: The Eugenesis of Genetic Counseling

    Eugenics is at the core of the emergence of the genetic counseling profession. In this episode, Alexandra Minna Stern, PhD, the Humanities Dean at UCLA, a historian, and researcher, discusses how this entanglement casts a long shadow over the profession and offers important historical context for some  of the present day challenges facing the fields of genetics and genomics.     KEY TOPICS Introduction to the Professor Alexandra Minna Stern and background on  the genetic counseling profession  and the eugenics movement [0:00 - 04:05] Reading of excerpt from  Telling Genes the Story of Genetic Counseling in America [04:05-11:01]  Why did you choose to tell this history of genetic counseling? And how did you reconstruct it? [11:02-12:55] Can you describe what you call the eugenesis of the genetic counseling profession, and how you think it influences the practice of medicine and genetics today?  [13:56 - 19:50] How prevalent were eugenics views among the genetics profession as a whole? How did eugenics affect research priorities or funding? [19:51 - 25.03] How would you describe overall the relationship of the genetic counseling profession to race historically and in current day practice, given that the genetic counseling profession today is overwhelmingly white? [25:03- 29:39] Can you talk a little bit about the work you do in the lab around forced sterilizations? And also your research into this topic? [29:39- 35:21] What types of people were targeted with forced sterilization? Where were they performed? [35:22 - 43:08] Historically, how have you seen genetic counselors or geneticists contribute to this reductionist thinking about people living with genetic difference? And on the flip side, how have some medical professionals worked to expand the profession's approach to genetic difference in disability? [43:08-54:12] Wrap up [54:15-56:40]

    57 min
  2. Episode 5: Informed Consent & Prenatal Genetic Testing

    NOV 12

    Episode 5: Informed Consent & Prenatal Genetic Testing

    “Informed consent” has long been held up as the gold standard of patient care in Western medicine. In this episode of Genetic Frontiers, Blair Stevens, MS, CGC, Director of Prenatal Genetic Counseling Services at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston talks about what informed consent means when it comes to making hundreds of choices about genetic testing around pregnancy. She also discusses the computer module a team at UTHealth Houston created to support prenatal genetic decision-making and the genetic counseling process.  KEY TOPICS Introduction to the history of informed consent [0:00-3:03] Background on prenatal genetic testing [3:03-5:45] Introduction to Blair Stevens, CGC and her work at UTHealth Houston [5:45-6:59] Why did the UTHealth Houston team build a computer module to support genetic counseling? And how does it work? [07:00 - 9:18] What percentage of patients are using the computer module? And which ones? [9:18- 10:51] What does meaningful, informed consent really means in the setting of prenatal genetic counseling? [10:52 - 13:07] With the menu of prenatal genetic testing options ever expanding, how does that change decision making? [13:08-15:57] How has offering patients a menu of options in prenatal genetic testing affected the experience?  [15:57 - 18:08 ] What are some of the different ways people deal with genetic information when they're trying to expand their families? [18:09 -  19:55] Do we need to make a larger cultural shift around ideas of genetic difference and disability? [19:55 - 22:23] Discussion of genetic underpinnings of many common or chronic illness and what those mean for prenatal care [22:24 -:24:12] What do you see as the future in terms of full genome sequencing and prenatal genetic decision-making? [24:12 - 26:24] What would it mean for their lives going forward if we start sequencing all people or many people when they are newborns? [26:24 - 30:44] Discussion of how knowing your genetic health risks could affect your insurability & wrap-up. [30:44 -  33:08]

    33 min
  3. Episode 4: Cancer in the Family? What You Need to Know About Hereditary Risk

    OCT 29

    Episode 4: Cancer in the Family? What You Need to Know About Hereditary Risk

    Episode Summary In this episode,  Lisa Schlager, the Vice President of Public Policy at FORCE, a national advocacy organization, discusses genetic testing, prevention, treatment, and legal protections for people at risk for hereditary cancer. KEY TOPICS Introduction: concerns of people at risk of hereditary cancer; FORCE, a national advocacy organization; and Lisa Schlager, VP of Public Policy  at FORCE  [00:00 - 3:15] Tell us about your personal journey with hereditary cancer, and how you got involved in advocacy work? [3:15 - 11:23] What is GINA, the Federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and what protections does it offer–and fail to offer—for people living at risk of genetic disease? [11:23-14:01]  How FORCE is advocating with state legislatures to expand anti-discrimination protections beyond those offered by federal law? [14:01 - 16:50] What are some specific examples of issues you're working on at FORCE to help make sure that people living at risk of hereditary cancer get the healthcare they need? [16:50 - 20:01] What does Medicare cover when it comes to genetic testing for hereditary cancer? [20:02 - 22:06] Why is it so important for healthcare providers and people to understand if they have a risk of developing hereditary cancer? [22:07 -  24:50] What are some resources for people who are concerned that cancer in their family could be hereditary? [24:50 - 26:33] What can healthcare providers do to help people understand and respond to the potential inherited risks of cancer? [26:34 - 30:53]  Wrap-up [30:54 - 32:18]

    32 min
  4. Episode 3: Prenatal Genetic Counseling Unlike Therapy in Any Other Setting

    OCT 14

    Episode 3: Prenatal Genetic Counseling Unlike Therapy in Any Other Setting

    Episode Summary In this episode, Kendra Schaa, ScM, LGC, a prenatal genetic counselor at a major medical center talks about the importance of the therapeutic model in meeting patients where they are. She also discusses how prenatal genetic counseling is influenced by the profession’s roots in biology over psychology, the skyrocketing number of genetic tests, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Full episode & transcript at: https://www.geneticfrontiers.org/episode3-kendra-schaa KEY TOPICS Introduction to personal story of prenatal genetic counseling and history of genetic counseling profession How does genetic counseling’s roots in the field of biology more than psychology or therapeutic counseling influence the profession today? How does the genetic counseling interaction need to change? With so many genetic tests out there, how do you think genetic counselors can best support patients to decide what tests are right for them? What tools do you think genetic counselors need? Can you talk a little bit about Allay Life and your focus on providing therapeutic support to people during their reproductive journey? As a genetic counselor, what do restrictions on women's rights to choose when to terminate a pregnancy mean for how you counsel them? How do you think genetic counselors can be champions of the future of genetics in medicine?   Resources Monthly Peer Supervision Groups hosted by Allay Life. Allay Life: Light in the Unexpected Pregnancy Journey. Allay Life. Finding Your Way After Unexpected News in Pregnancy Workbook. Schaa KL, Biesecker BB. Where is the "counseling" in prenatal genetic counseling? Patient Educ Couns. 2024 Jul;124:108278. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2024.108278. Epub 2024 Mar 29. Masha Gessen. Blood Matters:  From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies, How the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene. 2008. Seymour Kessler. Genetic Counseling, Psychological Dimensions. 1979.

    29 min
  5. Episode 2: How DNA Testing is Shaking Up the Sperm Banking Industry

    OCT 1

    Episode 2: How DNA Testing is Shaking Up the Sperm Banking Industry

    In this episode of Genetic Frontiers, Katie Lee Hornberger, a certified genetic counselor with the Seattle Sperm Bank talks about how genetic testing has shaken up the sperm banking industry. DNA testing has changed everything, forcing the industry to move from a paradigm that prized anonymity towards one of greater transparency about biological relationships,  genetic risks, and family medical history. Go to episode details on Genetic Frontiers at: https://www.geneticfrontiers.org/episode2-katie-lee-hornberger    KEY TOPICS Introduction to the sperm banking industry Introduction to Katie Lee Hornberger, CGC How has genetic testing changed the sperm banking industry?  What types of genetic or health conditions rule out a person's ability to be a donor? Do you test donors for CADASIL, for example? If you don’t, how do you explain to potential recipients that donors may have unknown genetic risks? How would you describe the culture of risk within the gamete donor community? Not allowing some groups of men to donate sperm could be viewed as discriminatory or eugenic, so why do sperm banks have these limitations in place and what they mean for families who are using sperm to form their families? Given our ever-changing understanding of people’s genetic risks, what do you see as the future of spermaking and sperm donation? Following the legal trend towards greater openness and transparency in sharing genetic and medical information with donor-conceived people, what does this mean practically for places like the Seattle Sperm Bank? What, if any, relationship do sperm bank recipients continue to have with the sperm bank after donation?  Do sperm banks conduct a genetic screening on sperm bank recipients, ie,  the women who use sperm donations to try to conceive? How does the sperm bank handle the situation when a donor-conceived child is later found to have a genetic condition? How are sibling limitations supposed to work? Wrap-up   Resources Genetic Counseling, Fertility, & Miscarriage Awareness | Katie Lee CGC Katie Lee, CGC Talks Miscarriage and Fertility - YouTube Peter Boni. Uprooted: Family Trauma, Unknown Origins, and the Secretive History of Artificial Insemination. Green Leaf Book Press, 2022.  Homepage - We Are Donor Conceived American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Guidance regarding gamete and embryo donation. 2021.

    34 min
  6. Episode 1: Finding Meaning in Life & Genetics

    SEP 14

    Episode 1: Finding Meaning in Life & Genetics

    In this episode, Nerine Gregersen, MD, a former pediatrician,  clinical geneticist,  and logotherapist, discusses how learning genetic information about oneself can have  profound emotional and existential impacts. She talks about how logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes finding meaning as people’s primary motivation, can help support people navigating difficult diagnoses or profound life shifts triggered by genetic discoveries.  Go to episode details on Genetic Frontiers.

    40 min
  7. Episode 0: Living at Risk

    SEP 14

    Episode 0: Living at Risk

    In this episode of Genetic Frontiers, host, Susanna Smith, MPH, shares her personal story of living as a previvor of an incurable, genetic disease, which is part of the impetus for the podcast and at the center of a book she is working on. Get episode details on Genetic Frontiers.

    10 min
  • 7 Episodes

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

A podcast about the promise, power, and perils of genetic information (geneticfrontiers.org)

Information

  • Creator
    Susanna Smith & Brandy Mello
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024-2025
  • Show Website
    Genetic Frontiers

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