Genetic Counseling Faculty
Director
Kathleen D. Valverde, M.S., C.G.C., earned a B.S. in Psychology from Binghamton University and an M.S. in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling from Sarah Lawrence College. She returned to Sarah Lawrence College as the Fieldwork Facilitator for the Genetic Counseling Training Program before joining Arcadia University as the Assistant Director in 1995. In 2004 she assumed the role of Program Director. She has worked in the genetic counseling field for more than 25 years with extensive expertise in cystic fibrosis. She has served on the National Society of Genetic Counselors Board of Directors and is on the task force to establish a new accreditation agency for genetic counseling programs. She is actively involved with pursuing licensure for genetic counselors in the Common wealth of Pennsylvania. She has published extensively and has a special interest in clinical supervision and cancer counseling.
Faculty
Ian Krantz, M.D., is the Medical Director of Arcadia’s Genetic Counseling program. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, an attending physician in Genetics Services, and director of the genetics residency/fellowship program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Krantz serves on the Clinical Advisory Board for the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) Foundation, the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, and the Alagille Syndrome Alliance. In May 2004, a research team led by Dr. Krantz reported in Nature Genetics that they had identified a gene on chromosome 5 which, when altered, causes CdLS. Dr. Krantz has been the course director for the Medical Genetics courses GC 550 and 551 since 2002. He regularly supervises students in clinic and provides thesis advising and mentoring.
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Laura Conway, Ph.D., C.G.C., is the Assistant Director. She earned received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She engaged in research for several years before attending the Genetic Counseling graduate program at Arcadia University. After graduating in 1999, she practiced as a prenatal genetic counselor for five years. Dr. Conway has served as an abstract reviewer for the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and she is a grant reviewer and finance chair for the Jane Engelberg Memorial Fellowship. Laura Conway, Assistant Director, is a member of the Genetic Counseling Advanced Degree Taskforce, and she recently authored and presented a webinar on Advanced Degrees in Genetic Counseling for the National Society of Genetic Counselors full membership. Her primary interest is how genetic counselors can incorporate changes in technology.
Kathryn Spitzer Kim, M.S., C.G.C., is Coordinator of Counseling Education. She has more than 20 years of experience in the genetic counseling field in a variety of settings (prenatal, hospital-based and private practice). She has focused on teaching and supervising genetic counseling students for more than 15 years. Her primary interests are the psychological aspects of genetic counseling and multiculturalism. She recently wrote a chapter on interviewing techniques in the second edition of A Guide to Genetic Counseling.
Lisa Kessler, M.S., CGC is the Clinical Coordinator. She graduated from the genetic counseling program at Arcadia University in 2000. Lisa has worked as a genetic counselor in the Division of Medical Genetics and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. She was previously a Senior Genetic Counselor at DNA Direct by Medco and gained experience in telephone counseling and pharmacogenomics. Lisa currently works part-time at the Genetic Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. She has served as an abstract reviewer for the National Society of Genetic Counselors and has authored numerous publications throughout her career. Her primary interests are the psychosocial aspects of genetic counseling.
Associated Faculty
- Barbara Bernhardt, M.S., C.G.C., University of Pennsylvania
- Laura Conlin, Ph.D., Department of Human Genetics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Melanie Corbman, M.S., C.G.C., Cancer Treatment Centers of America
- Brenda Finucane, M.S., C.G.C., Director of Genetics Services, Elwyn Training and Research Institute
- Andrea Forman, M.S., C.G.C., Family Risk Assessment Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center
- Kristi Fitzgerald, M.S., C.G.C., Biochemical Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Diana Harris, Ph.D., Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania
- Paige Kaplan, M.D., Biochemical Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Wenda Long, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
- Rosaria Love, Ph.D., practicing clinical psychologist
- Donna McDonald-McGinn, M.S., C.G.C., Associate Director Clinical Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Livija Medne, M.S., C.G.C., Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Jennifer Morrisette, Ph.D., Department of Human Genetics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Kate Nathanson, M.D., Cancer Genetics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
- Steven Robbins, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Arcadia University
- Cynthia Rutherford, M.A., Counselor, Arcadia University Counseling Center
- Sheryl Smith, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Arcadia University
- Nancy Spinner, Ph.D., Department of Human Genetics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Susan Walther, M.S., CGC University of Pennsylvania Molecular Laboratory
- Vivien Weinblatt, M.S., C.G.C., Integrated Genetics
- Alisha Wilkens, M.S., CGC, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
