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Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling Appoints New Leadership

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MCLEAN, Va. (PRWEB)

The Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling is pleased to announce the results of its organizational leadership elections. ACGC is the accreditation board for graduate programs in genetic counseling. Molly McGinniss MS, CGC, was elected to serve as President, and Sylvia Mann MS, CGC, and Jennifer Eichmeyer MS, CGC have been elected to serve on the Board of Directors. The ACGC Board of Directors works diligently to further the mission of the organization by exploring areas of challenge and opportunity for genetic counselor graduate education, as identified by training programs and other key stakeholders, to inform standards, policies, and procedures.

Molly McGinniss MS, CGC, is Senior Director of Client and Partner Relations at Genome Medical, a digital health company and specialty medical group focused on genetics and genomics. She is a board-certified genetic counselor with extensive clinical and commercial expertise. She began her career as a clinical genetic counselor providing prenatal, pediatric, and adult genetic counseling services. Prior to joining Genome Medical, she led global market development at Illumina for the genetic disease clinical segment. Molly serves as an adjunct professor and advisory board member for several genetic counseling graduate training programs and has held past leadership roles for the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC). Ms. McGinnis has served as the Program Review Committee chair prior to being elected President. Dawn Allain, MS, CGC who has spent the last year as President, will become the Immediate Past President on the Board of Directors.

In addition, Sylvia Mann MS, CGC, Genomics Section Supervisor for the Hawaii Department of Health was elected to serve as on the ACGC Board of Directors and will begin her three-year term. After starting a prenatal genetic counseling service, she moved to work in the Hawaii Department of Health in 1993. Ms. Mann has also been the Project Director for the Health Resources and Services Administration funded Western States Regional Genetics Network since 2003 which works to improve access to genetic services and education for underserved families. To improve access and education, Ms. Mann has been working on increasing the use of telegenetics since 2004. She has also worked to increase the number of racial and ethnic minority students entering genetics professions and supporting practicing minority genetics professionals excel in their career.

Jennifer Eichmeyer MS, CGC, Program Director of the Boise State University Masters program in Genetic Counseling was also elected to serve on the ACGC Board of Directors. Ms. Eichmeyer has been in the field for more than twenty years. She established the first cancer genetic counseling clinic for the state of Idaho in 2004 and served as the lead genetic counselor training incoming new graduate hires. She has been heavily involved in expanding genetic services such as the development of a High Risk Breast Clinic and NICU genetics, and was a co-lead in successfully getting state licensure for genetic counselors passed in the legislature. Jennifer is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issues affecting access to genetic counseling services as well as access to training in the profession. Her thesis “An Assessment of Understanding in Hispanic Genetic Counseling Patients” was published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling. She has earned the BUILD certificate to be a campus leader supporting diversity and inclusion efforts. Jennifer also serves as a dialogue facilitator to foster productive conversations around race, ethnicity, gender, and class, and she is trained as an Equity Advocate for faculty hiring and retention. She is a member of the Minority Genetics Professionals Network and the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Both Ms. Mann and Ms. Eichmeyer bring a passion for and bring years of experience serving in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion roles which will aid the ACGC board as it aims to incorporate the recent recommendations from the DEI task force into its strategic plan.

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 Janet Williams and Debi Cragun during their tenure on the Board.

All new positions begin in July 2021.

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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