Kate Wilson, MS, CGC (she/her/hers) ; Rebekah Moore, MS, CGC ; Joanna Mercado, MS, CGC (she/her/ella) ; Hetal Vig, MS, CGC ; Michelle Moore, MS, CGC (she/her)
Healthcare disparities related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice continue to increase with the advancement of precision medicine and the incorporation of genetics into mainstream healthcare. By promoting genomic equity, clinics, hospitals, laboratories, and companies improve patient and client satisfaction, increase access and utilization of genomic testing and services, and create metrics that streamline operations which can be used to ensure equity and inclusion. Thus, the Genomic Technologies SIG created a slide deck to achieve two goals: 1) to give an overview of the importance of equity in genomic healthcare, and 2) to describe the healthcare disparities that impact genomic medicine. Genomic equity (as defined by Joom et al. 2019) occurs when “all populations have equal, effective, and affordable access to genomic medicine where diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies can target the bases of disease without bias for or against any group.”
This deck describes current practices in genomic medicine and suggests calls to action to improve equity. We seek to empower genetic counselors to help reduce disparities in their respective practice settings. Additionally, the information supports key stakeholders’ understanding of the importance of genomic equity. Genetic counselors have the positions and the perspective to influence the genomic equity space by starting conversations with their employers, leadership, and communities to lead actions that promote genomic equity and reduce disparities.
Please check out the deck here! We acknowledge that this resource is only one piece of a much larger, more complex puzzle. The deck addresses the interconnectivity of genetics to many other fields that collectively impact healthcare. This deck provides the background needed for larger discussions on how you and your team can improve your current services and offerings to increase genomic equity. We hope this slide deck guides conversations with your department, teams, and leadership. Additionally, we welcome you to update or customize the deck as needed, to continue advancing discussions that lead to actionable change.
(The authors and creators would like to thank Kara Bui, Deanna Darnes, Khalida Liaquat, and Deepti Babu for their reviews and edits on the deck.)
All views expressed in this article are solely of the authors and not of their employer’s.
Kate Wilson, MS, CGC (she/her/hers) works at Quest Diagnostics and is a product director in oncology. She is passionate about DEIJ efforts and access to quality precision medicine for all people. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Genetic Counseling and recently established the DEIJ Committee.
Rebekah Moore, MS, CGC is currently employed at AstraZeneca. She specializes in cancer genetics and is passionate about increasing equitable access to genetic counseling and testing.
Joanna Mercado, MS, CGC (she/her/ella) currently works at Genome Medical and specializes in cancer genetics. She is also dedicated to DEIJ efforts and initiatives (currently, member of Force for Good at Genome Medical; previously, co-chair of the Genomic Technology SIG Anti-Racism subcommittee)
Hetal Vig, MS, CGC is currently employed at Foundation Medicine, Inc. She specializes in cancer genetics and has been involved in various DEIJ efforts, specifically elevating the diversity and inclusion efforts for graduate student training.
Michelle Moore, MS, CGC (she/her) is a senior genetic counselor with experience in industry, genomic medicine, prenatal, cancer, pediatric, adult, and metabolic genetics in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She has a special interest in DEIJ initiatives and skeletal dysplasia.