Student Awards
Genetic Counseling Distinguished Student Award
The Genetic Counseling Distinguished Student Award is presented annually at the Arcadia University Honors Convocation in March. One student from the graduating class is chosen for both academic excellence and application of counseling theory to provide personalized and empathetic patient care. The first award was presented in 2010.
- Stacey Rickard '12
- Jessica Hartman '11
- Justin Leighton '10
Ellington Beavers Awards for Intellectual Inquiry
The Ellington Beavers Awards for Intellectual Inquiry at Arcadia University are for student research that best exemplifies the substantial intellectual inquiry inherent in good research. The award was established in 1989 by the leadership of Dr. Ellington Beavers, then Chair of the Board of Trustees.
2008
Katherine Kron Helbig, who earned her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling in 2009, was the first Genetic Counseling Program recipient of an Ellington Beavers research award for “Perceptions of Epilepsy: Genetic Risk Estimation, Associations with Reproductive Decisions and Views about Predictive Testing.” Her research was done in collaboration with several people, including Laura J. Conway and Kathleen D. Valverde, Associate Professors in Arcadia’s Genetic Counseling program, and Dr. Michael Sperling of the Department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University. Sperling gave Helbig access to the patients at his clinic and closely supervised her project. Helbig has since published her thesis project in Epilepsia, 51(9):1874-1877, 2010 one of the premier journals in epilepsy research, and she is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the Section of Epidemiology in the Institute for Experimental Medicine at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel in Germany.
2009
Kim Rainey '10, conducted research investigating the question of “BRCA True Negative Women: Are We Overlooking a Population in Need of Support?” She worked with Kathleen Valverde, Associate Professor of Genetic Counseling. Kim presented her thesis as a platform presentation at the Annual Educational Conference of the National Society of Genetic Counselors in 2010. She is currently a genetic counselor at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
Kristin E. Zelley '10, focused her research on “Identifying the Unmet Needs of Individuals with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.” Her research adviser in the Genetic Counseling program was Dr. Laura Conway Assistant Professor of Genetic Counseling. Zelley is now a genetic counselor in the Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
2010
Elizabeth M. McCormick '11, worked with Dr. Laura Conway on “Assessing Phenotype-Genotype Correlation in Costello Syndrome with the use of a Severity Score.” She graduated with distinction and presented her work as a contributed paper at the 2011 National Society of Genetic Counselors’ Annual Meeting in San Diego. She is currently employed as a genetic counselor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Mitochondrial Genetics Program.
2011
Vivien Narcisa '13, won an award for her research project “Identifying the Social, Emotional, and Practical Needs of teens with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.” Brenda Finucane, MS, CGC from Elywn and Kathleen Valverde.
Stacey Rickard '12, received her award for “Orthopedic Manifestations and Implications for Individuals with Costello Syndrome.” She is working with Dr. Karen Gripp and Beth Hopkins, MS, CGC from A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children. Stacey was able to attend the National Costello Syndrome Conference in the summer of 2011 to meet patients and families with this condition.
Jessica Tusi '12, is conducting research on perceptions towards whole exome sequencing. Her project is entitled, “Permission to Open Pandora’s Box: Participants’ views of whole exome sequencing research. Jessica is working with Barbara Bernhardt, MS, CGC from the University of Pennsylvania and Kathleen Valverde.
Other Awards
Katie Bomba '11, won a 2011 Prenatal SIG Award from the NSGC. The grant money funded her project “Barriers Toward Perinatal Autopsies,” which she presented as a poster at the 2011 NSGC Education Conference in San Diego.
Colleen Clarke '11, was honored with the inaugural Cook Family Endowed Scholarship Award in 2010. The scholarship is awarded annually to an Arcadia undergraduate entering a health-related graduate program at Arcadia, and was established by the Cook Family in 2008.
Marissa Clark '12, received a 2012 Prenatal SIG (Special Interest Group) Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors funding her research proposal, “Non-invasive Prenatal Diagnosis: Views of Genetic Counselors.” Marissa has been invited to make a short presentation at the 2012 NSGC Education Conference in Boston.
Samantha Everhart '12, received a prestigious LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) Fellowship at CHOP for the 2011-12 academic year. LEND Fellowships are funded by the Department of Health and Human Services to provide leadership and clinical training to those working in diverse health care professions serving children with developmental disabilities and chronic health conditions.
