Kathleen Berentsen, MS, MPH, CGC
Cornell University Medical Center
Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Clinic

Kathleen is the clinical coordinator for the Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Clinic within the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child Neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is also a staff member of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on advocacy and support for neurofibromatosis research, where Kathleen oversees the NF affiliate clinic network and is a member of the Clinical Care Advisory Board. In addition, Kathleen recently joined the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College and has been a co-instructor of the Issues in Genetic Counseling Course. Prior to her role within the neurofibromatosis community, Kathleen practiced as a prenatal genetic counselor for several years following her graduation from Sarah Lawrence College in 2000. In 2007 Kathleen completed her MPH degree at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University focusing on Reproductive and Family Health where she focused much of her work on genetics education within the Latino community. Currently, she acts on the Community Advisory Board for the Dominican Women's Development Center and works as a consultant with the March of Dimes promoting genetics health education for the Latino population of Washington Heights.

Ushta Davar Canteenwalla, MS
Clinical Coordinator & Genetic Counselor
Center for Prenatal Pediatrics
Columbia University Medical Center
(t) (212) 305-3151
(f) (212) 342-2802

After obtaining her Masters in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College, Ushta has worked as a genetic counselor in prenatal, pediatric, cardiac, and cancer genetics. She currently works as a clinical coordinator and genetic counselor for the Center for Prenatal Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center / NY-Presbyterian.

The Center for Prenatal Pediatrics is a multidisciplinary program which coordinates care for families identified with a fetal anomaly or genetic condition. This type of care pivots around the premise that caring for babies with anomalies begins before birth with specialized, collaborative prenatal care and continues into the neonatal and pediatric period. As the clinical coordinator, Ushta is the main point of contact and support for the families. She also manages a team of 4 and works on marketing and program development for the Center.

W. Andrew Faucett, MS, CGC
Assistant Professor
Director Genomics & Public Health Program
Department of Human Genetics
Emory University School of Medicine
Office: (404) 778-8420
Cell: (678) 799-6862

Andy Faucett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics of Emory University School of Medicine and the Director of the Genomics and Public Health Program. He is the Program Coordinator for the Collaboration, Education and Test Translation for rare genetic diseases (CETT) Program of the NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research. Mr. Faucett received his B.S. in Biology from the Baptist College at Charleston and his M.S. in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College. He is board certified in genetic counseling by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. He worked at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX and as the first genetic counselor in Savannah, GA prior to moving to Atlanta for a fellowship at the CDC from 2000 – 2004. His fellowship focused on healthcare provider education about genetic testing and oversight issues related to genetic testing. He joined the Emory faculty in 2004 and continued to work closely with the CDC on genetic testing issues. His research and policy work focus on healthcare provider education, rare disease test translation, oversight and regulation of genetic testing, quality control of genetic services, patient registries, and direct-to-consumer genetic testing. He previously served on the Board of Directors for the National Society of Genetic Counselors, the American Board of Genetic Counseling, and the Jane Engelberg Memorial Fellowship. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG), the CDC EGAPP Stakeholder’s Group, the EUROGENTEST Genetic Counseling Workgroup, and the Sarah Lawrence College Alumni Board and as President of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Perinatal Association.

Sara Kapp Gilvary, MS, CGC
NYU Medical Center
Human Genetics Program
(212) 263-3768

Sara Kapp works as a certified Genetic Counselor for NYU Langone Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics. She currently provides prenatal genetic counseling services at NYU Langone Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital and NY Downtown Hospital. She received her Masters in Genetic Counseling in 2006 from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. In addition to clinical work, Sara is a supervisor for first year Genetic Counseling students from Sarah Lawrence College, teaches first year medical students at NYU as part of the Molecular Basis of Medicine module and gives lectures in Clinical Genetics for OB/GYN residents and MFM fellows at both NYU Langone Medical Center, and NY Downtown Hospital. Sara is also the co-founder of the NYC chapter of Heartbreaking Choices, a support group for families who have terminated wanted pregnancies after prenatal diagnosis.

Khalida Liaquat, MS

Khalida Liaquat has been working as a prenatal and pediatric genetic counselor for two city hospitals in Brooklyn, NY since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006 with a Master’s degree in Human Genetics.  Hailing from Montreal, Canada, she received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.  Her interest in education has led her to teaching in various settings including special education, ESL and microbiology.  She is currently involved in outreach to and mentoring of high school students, college students interested in the field of genetic counseling, and supervising genetic counseling students.  

Caroline Lieber, MS, CGC
Director, Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics
Sarah Lawrence College
Bronxville, NY 10708
(914) 395-2605

Caroline Lieber has been the Director of the Joan H Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics (SLCHGP), the country’s first and largest masters program in genetic counseling, for the last 11 years. Previously, she was the Manager of Genetic Services of Hackensack University Medical Center, where she practiced as a genetic counselor and clinical supervisor for 18 years.   She has expertise in clinical practice and supervision, curriculum development, and genetic educational outreach.

Caroline has been active in professional educational outreach in a variety of novel venues locally and internationally. Through her recent appointment as guest faculty of New York Medical College, she has led two research groups on “Consumer Knowledge and Awareness on Newborn Screening” in their Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program.   She was a member of the HRSA-funded “Genetics and Primary Care Faculty Development Initiative”, a consultant on the Fred Friendly series, “Our Genes, Our Choices,” and is a Consumer Education working group member with the New York Mid Atlantic Consortium  (NYMAC) on Newborn Screening. She and her colleagues developed an advanced training certificate program for healthcare providers to broaden career options beyond the clinical setting, into public health and policy, health education, and research.   SLCHGP hosted two students from Princess Haya Biotechnology Centre of Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Irbid, Jordan in an international exchange program. Currently, she has begun working with local  Area Health Education Center (AHEC)  programs and other groups to increase the visibility of the genetic counseling profession to high school and college students.

Dawn Cardeiro, MS, CGC
(401) 258-2513
(401) 683-1951 (fax)

Dawn Cardeiro, a 1995 graduate of the Sarah Lawrence Human Genetics Program, is a board certified genetic counselor who currently works in industry, for Myriad Genetic Labs, as a Regional Medical Specialist. Prior to her position with Myriad, she held a variety of positions, both traditional and non-traditional. Her professional experience includes direct patient care, non-profit advocacy, health professional education and freelance writing. Dawn resides in Rhode island with her husband and three children.

Jamie Speer, MS, CGC

Jamie earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Cytogenetics from the University of Connecticut, and followed this with several years of experience in the fields of chromosome analysis and DNA testing. He received his Master of Science degree in Human Genetics/Genetic Counseling at Sarah Lawrence College.

Jamie practiced as a genetic counselor for approximately 10 years, specializing in prenatal and pediatric genetic counseling, before becoming the Associate Director of the Human Genetics Program at Sarah Lawrence College in 2002, where he teaches Advanced Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling courses. Jamie also practices genetic counseling part-time at a fertility clinic, working mainly with egg donors and patients using egg donors, as well as IVF patients pursuing preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Gary Bruce Munk, PhD, MS
Director, Cliical Virology
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept of Medicine, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Hackensack University Medical Center
30 Prospect Avenue
Hackensack, NJ 07601
(201) 996-4924

Amy Schwartz, MPH
Assistant Clinical Professor & Associate Director
NH Institute for Health Policy and Practice
Project Manager, Institute on Disability
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-5099 (office)
(603) 862-0555 (fax)

Amy Schwartz joined the University of New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice in December of 2001. Amy provides management and direct consultation for numerous Institute projects, and also assists in overall Institute administration.  Previously to her employment at UNH, she was the Vice President of Provider Network Management for the Neighborhood Health Plan, a Medicaid HMO headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. She has held several management positions for health insurance companies in provider relations, contract negotiation and cost containment. She completed her graduate degree in public health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with a concentration in maternal and child health and a minor in disability studies. Amy completed the SLC Genetics, Genomics and Public Health Certificate program in 2009 and was most recently the manager of the HRSA-funded New England Genetics Collaborative. Currently, she works on projects in public health and health policy with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Office of Medicaid, the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services, the New Hampshire Insurance Department and Public Health.

Lavanya Misra, MS

Lavanya Misra began her career in genetics after earning her Masters in Science in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College in 1985.  Lavanya Misra’s professional career has involved over twenty years of clinical care, teaching and research. Most of her career has been focused on developing and implementing clinical genetic counseling programs in the US. She has also been a consultant to international genetic organizations in Asia and Australia. Her non-clinical career path has included sales and marketing for Schering Plough Corporation, a global pharmaceutical company. She has also served as Chairperson, International Issues at the National Society of Genetic Counselors and co-Chaired its Annual Education Conference. Currently she is a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College and is involved in teaching International Issues in Genomics and Public Health, as well as, a capstone advisor for the students in the Public Health Genomics Certificate Program.

Janelle McCarthy, MS

Janelle majored in bioengineering (with a concentration in molecular biology) at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked in molecular biology labs at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities. Janelle attended Sarah Lawrence College, graduating from the Joan H Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics in 2008. She is now working at Jacobi Medical Center (the Bronx) in prenatal and cancer counseling with a little bit of pediatrics thrown in. Janelle got married months before attending Sarah Lawrence. She is currently living in the Bronx with husband. She was on Latin dance troupe in college, taught Salsa classes at SLC and still loves to Salsa dance whenever she has the opportunity.

Georgette Bruenner, MS
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
240 Willoughby Street 3H
Brooklyn, New York 11201

After college I embarked on a career in advertising and marketing, working for a stock exchange, and ultimately as an account executive in a large N.Y. advertising agency. Later, with small children, I wrote and edited a local, community newspaper. I came to learn of the Human Genetics Program at Sarah Lawrence when researching counseling programs. I recalled how helpful a genetic counselor had been to my husband and me when we went for preconception counseling before having our first child. I graduated from the program in 2007, and have been working at the Brooklyn Hospital Center since then. The Genetics Department serves prenatal and adult populations. The population includes a broad range of nationalities including African American, Caucasian, Caribbean, Chinese and Arabian. The majority of patients are on Medicaid. With this diversity, the practice includes many typical and atypical genetic conditions.

Alisha Biser Wilkens, MS, CGC

I first learned about the field of genetic counseling as a child. My parents opted to have pre-conception counseling due to a paternal family history of profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. I had not thought seriously about genetic counseling as a career until my sophomore year at Mount Holyoke College during which my interest in the sciences became primarily genetic /ethics-centric and genetic counseling seemed like the appropriate intersection. Thus, I designed my own major in Biomedical Ethics and was focused on spending several summers and the year after graduation in basic science research at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME and then at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) in Bronx, NY. During the year between college and entering the Human Genetics Program at Sarah Lawrence (in 2006), I volunteered at Planned Parenthood and shadowed a genetic counselor at Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Once at SLC, I had several different clinical and research experiences and I found that my interest was largely in both genetic counseling graduate education, as well as clinical pediatrics. During the second year, I became a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopment and Related Disabilities (LEND) fellow at the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at AECOM and it was a very unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of autism and related disorders. After graduating from SLC in 2008 and accepting a combined clinical and research genetic counseling position at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), I now focus mainly on pediatric specialty clinics such as those for hearing loss, skeletal dysplasias and abnormal body size. My research is more specifically on hearing loss, Pallister Killian Syndrome and Kabuki Syndrome. I have also had the opportunity to pursue my interest in graduate education as I have now been an adjunct professor for two years at Arcadia University’s Genetic Counseling Program coordinating and teaching the second year medical genetics course.

Kathleen Collins MS, CGC

Kathleen Collins, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006. She worked as a prenatal, pediatric, and cancer genetic counselor at Westchester Medical Center as well as taught medical students at New York Medical College and supervised genetic counseling students at Sarah Lawrence College. She is currently working as a prenatal and general (both pediatric and adult) genetic counselor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as well as teaching and supervising genetic counseling students at University of Cincinnati.

Monique Simard

Monique is originally from Canada, and did her undergraduate degree there with a major in Biology and a minor in Psychology. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence with a Masters in May of 2009. She is currently working in the Bronx at Montefiore Medical Center working in both prenatal and cancer genetic counseling.

Mark Baldassare

Graduate Manhattan College, BS Biology, 1987; Graduate Sarah Lawrence College, MS Human Genetics, 1995
Beth Israel Medical Center, 1996 to 2000, Genetic Counselor, prenatal, pediatric and adult genetic counseling services.
GMP Companies, 2001 to 2004, Market Development Manager for Conversion Technology (creation of human/ mouse somatic cell hybrids for cancer research and diagnosis).
Ventana Medical Systems, 2004 to 2005, Account Manager, Immuno- histochemistry products and equipment. Presidents Club award winner.
GeneOhm Sciences/ Becton Dickenson, 2005 to 2009, Account Manager, PCR products and equipment for diagnosis of microbial infections. Sales Leadership Award.
Signature Genomics/ Perkin Elmer, 2009 to present, Account Manager, prenatal and pediatric array CGH testing services.

Linda Steinmark

Linda graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Biology. After one unhappy year behind a lab bench at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine's graduate program in molecular biology, she worked in science publishing. Linda then discovered medical photography, and worked for many years as a medical and fine art photographer. Later, she attended the Sarah Lawrence Human Genetics Program, graduating in May of 2009. Linda is currently working as a cancer genetic counselor. This is a new position, and it has involved creating programs in three partner hospitals.

Judy Hull

Judy received a BS in Biological Sciences from Columbia University in 1992 and MS from the Human Genetics Program at Sarah Lawrence College in 1995.  As a board certified genetic counselor, she has worked a breast cancer research laboratory enrolling patients onto genetics research studies, she has worked in a clinical genetics service providing cancer genetic counseling, and for the past several years has worked in Medical Affairs for a biotech company.  She has supervised genetic counseling students in clinic and has taught genetic counseling students at Sarah Lawrence.