Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling Appoints New Leadership


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The Board is extremely pleased to welcome the new officers and new board members and looks forward to continuing to improve accreditation processes for ACGC and grow the number of accredited programs in the field.

The Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling is pleased to announce the results of its organizational leadership elections. Dawn C. Allain, MS, CGC, was elected to serve as President. Ms. Allain is the Director of the Genetic Counseling Graduate Program at The Ohio State University. She joined the board in 2017 and has been instrumental in furthering the organization’s mission to establish standards for graduate level genetic counseling education, evaluating educational programs to ensure compliance with those standards and protect the interest of the students, public and the integrity of the genetic counseling profession. Ms. Allain has served as the Program Review Committee chair prior to being elected President. Janet Williams, MS, CGC who has spent the last year as President, will become the Immediate Past President on the Board of Directors. Heather Creswick, MS, LCGC, who joined the board in 2017, will be ACGC’s next Treasurer. Molly McGinniss, MS, LCGC will be the next Program Review Committee Chair.

In addition, Erin Carmany, MS, Clinician Educator at the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Genetic Counseling Graduate Program at Wayne State University was elected to serve as on the ACGC Board of Directors and will begin her three year term. Ms. Carmany has been a practicing genetic counselor for over 20 years and earned her Master’s in Genetic Counseling in 1997 at the University of Colorado.

Sarah McBrien PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Curricular & Learning Assessment at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Allied Health Professions was also elected to serve on the ACGC Board of Directors. Ms. McBrien develops and teaches in the Master of Health Professions Teaching and Technology program. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in 2018 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The Board is extremely pleased to welcome the new officers and new board members and looks forward to continuing to improve accreditation processes for ACGC and grow the number of accredited programs in the field. The Board also wishes to acknowledge and thank the incredible contributions of Ian MacFarlane and Lori Williamson-Dean during their tenure on the Board.

All new positions begin in July 2020.

The Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) is a specialized accrediting body newly formed in January 2013 out of its predecessor organization the American Board of Genetic Counseling. The ACGC’s mission is to:

  • Establish standards for graduate level genetic counseling education
  • Evaluate educational programs to ensure compliance with those standards
  • Protect the interest of the students, public and the integrity of the genetic counseling profession.


For more information about the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling please visit http://www.gceducation.org.

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