蜜桃直播 (蜜桃直播) students and are little more than a semester into the brand-new , yet they鈥檝e already earned fellowships in their chosen field. The two members of the MSGC鈥檚 inaugural class of 2020 were selected for the competitive Public Health Genetics and Precision Medicine Fellowship awarded by the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) professional organization.
The fellowship offers students and genetic counseling graduates of the past five years an opportunity to take part in webinars on timely topics in public health genetics and precision medicine; learn from current leaders and patient advocates; expand their professional networks; and develop a scholarly project. The fellowship also enables them to attend the NSGC鈥檚 2019 conference and receive a one-year membership in its public health special interest group after completing their fellowship requirements.
鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful for the visibility of our program and that two of our students鈥攏ot just one鈥攚ere selected,鈥� says Ashley Mills, who directs and developed the MSGC program at 蜜桃直播. 鈥淭hey applied during finals, which shows we have dedicated students who are confident about their goals and are putting themselves out there to do this on top of a really heavy workload in our program.鈥�
Comeaux came to 蜜桃直播鈥檚 MSGC program after working in cancer clinical research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. That experience led him to recognize the role of genetics in disease and sparked his interest in genetic counseling. Comeaux is still employed at Cedars-Sinai, working part-time on the All of Us Research Program, a national public health project involving creation of a database to guide precision medicine.
鈥淚鈥檝e already worked in public health and realize its importance,鈥� says Comeaux, who holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 so much more I need to learn, and the fellowship affords that opportunity. My mission has always been to serve patients and to learn how to be successful in that role.鈥�
Rios is also eager to learn. She sees the fellowship as additional preparation to achieve her goal: to become a genetic counselor who helps members of underserved communities better understand their own genetics and health.
鈥淚 jumped at the chance to increase my knowledge,鈥� she says of her decision to apply for the fellowship. 鈥淚鈥檝e taken a public health course, but I want more information and more insights into genetic services. I鈥檓 still brand new, so there鈥檚 a lot for me to take in. It鈥檚 important to immerse myself as much as I can and get insights and input from people who have been in genetic counseling for a long time.鈥�
Rios brings professional perspective of her own to the fellowship. After graduating from University of Redlands with a biology degree, she gained shadowing experience in the cancer genomics department at the University of Southern California. She also worked as a lab associate at Quest Diagnostics, finding a mentor in a genetic counselor there.
Now that the fellowship program has begun鈥攖he students participated in their first webinar on January 9, and discussions on LinkedIn are also under way鈥擱ios sees an opportunity for the rest of her classmates in the MSGC program to benefit as well.
鈥淎s I learn more about genetic public health and precision medicine, I鈥檓 going to bring that information back to my cohort and have more meaningful discussions. I鈥檝e already had conversations with other students,鈥� she says.