The Jane Engelberg Memorial Fellowship was first granted in 1993. The following is a list of previous and current award recipients and a description of the project funded.
2013
Katie Sheets, MS, CGC and Blythe Crissman, MS, CGC
Duke University Medical Center
Response to Genetic Counseling: Understanding the Experience and Needs of Individuals Receiving a Prenatal Diagnosis of Down Syndrome
The goal of this two-year project is to better understand the experience and informational and emotional needs of patients during the process of making various plans for pregnancy management.
2012
Sara M. Fitzgerald-Butt, MS, CGC
The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Assessment of the Genetic Knowledge of Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Defects and their Parents
The goal of this two-year project is to develop an understanding of the genetic knowledge of adolescents and young adults with congenital heart defects (CHD) and their parents, in order to identify educational needs and provide a foundation for the future development of educational tools.
2011
Dawn Allain, MS, CGC, and Kate Shane, MS, CGC
The Ohio State University.
The Value of Genetic Counselors in Genetic Testing for Hereditary Breast-Ovarian Cancer.The goal of this two-year pilot project is to demonstrate the value of genetic counseling by generating outcomes data from two patient cohorts, those who undergo genetic testing of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes through their non-genetics health care providers compared to those being tested by genetic counselors.
2010
Catherine (Casey) Reiser, MS, CGC
University of Wisconsin
Development of Educational Resources for Genetic Counseling Students, Practicing Genetic Counselors and Students in Other Health Professionals Using Digital Recordings of Genetic Counseling Sessions by Master Genetic Counselors is anticipated to make an important contribution to the genetic counseling profession.
2009
Nancy Steinberg Warren, MS, CGC
University of Cincinnati
Enhancing Cultural and Linguistic Competence in the Genetic Counseling Profession. The goal of this project is to develop an online genetic counseling cultural competence toolkit (GCCCT) to grow the cultural competence and capacity of the genetic counseling workforce to actively participate in national efforts to reduce health disparities.
2008
Kathryn Peters, MS , CGC
Penn State Diabetes Center
What the Client Brings to the Session: The Development of an Instrument to Assess Genetic Counseling Client Background, Needs and Expectations was a two year project . The goal of the overall research project is to develop an instrument to assess the background, needs and expectations of genetic counseling clients.
2007
Robin Grubs, PhD, CGC
University of Pittsburgh
Toward a Grounded Theory of Professional Practice for Genetic Counselors was a one year project which represents the second phase of a three-phase research project. The goal of the overall research project is to generate a grounded theory of practic for genetic counselors.
Special Award 2006
Debra Collins, MS, CGC
University of Kansas
Grantsmanship for Genetic Counselors: An Online Course. The primary goal of this one year project was to assist both beginning and established genetic counselor investigators to optimize their chances of successfully competing in peer-reviewed grant application competitions.
2006
Caroline Lieber, MS, CGC
Sarah Lawrence College:
Privileging Family Stories in Genetic Understanding: An Updated Paradigm for Genetic Counselors was a two-year project. The goal is to develop and implement a Family Stories project for genetic counselors. The project will enable health professionals to hear and understand the complexity of the patient's narrative "voice" as well as study how pregnant women understand their family's history of health and illness and concepts of inheritance.
2005
Janice Edwards, MS, CGC
University of South Carolina
Genetic Counseling Education: Connecting the Global Community was a two-year project. In May 2006, seventy one professionals traveled to Manchester, England for the first international meeting of genetic counselor educators, representing forty five genetic counseling programs and fifteen professional organizations. Altogether, eighteen countries from around the world attended the three day conference, Genetic Counseling Education: Connecting the Global Community.
http://igce.med.sc.edu
2004
Katy (Catherine) Downs, MS, CGC
University of Michigan
Promoting Communication and Trust in Multicultural Genetic Counseling: Working with Interpreters. The goal of this project is to develop a model for enhancing the effectiveness of working with foreign language interpreters in the genetic counseling session. The project will focus on two non-English language communities: the Spanish-speaking community and the Deaf community using American Sign Language (ASL).
2003
Susan Estabrooks*, Elizabeth Melvin*, and Emily Burkett**
*Duke University, **Oregon Health & Science University
The team will explore the roles, skills, and training of the research genetic counselor. The published findings of Estabrooks, Melvin, and Hanson will provide recommendations for future training of research genetic counselors.
2002
Christina Palmer, PhD and Don Hadley, MS
UCLA
Dr. Palmer and Mr. Hadley established validity of specific models for evaluating how people perceive and evaluate risks and, focused on genetic tests, showed that risk judgments differ more by ethnicity/race than by worldview or gender.
2001
Monica Barth, MS, CGC
Northwestern University
From Novice to Expert: Supervising the Development of Genetic Counselors
This study will look at genetic counseling clinical supervision in an adult learning (experiential learning) framework.
2000
Bonnie S. LeRoy, MS, CGC
University of Minnesota
Development of a Genetic Counseling Helping Skills Training Skills Manual. This study involved creating a training manual for use by genetic counselor educators and supervisors to aid in their students' helping skills. The manual addressed psychosocial, practice-based competencies established by the ABGC, with a particular focus on communication skills, ethical issues, personal awareness and diversity.
1999
Rebecca Rae Anderson, MS, JD, CGC
University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha
Religious Traditions and Prenatal Genetic Counseling: A Survey.
This study surveyed representatives of U.S. religious organizations to explore a range of issues related to fetal development and fetal loss.
1998
Judith Benkendorf, Michelle Prince and Heidi Hamilton, PhD
Genetic Counseling as Discourse: A Sociolinguistic Approach
This study will explore sociolinguistic techniques of discourse analysis using the model developed by sociolinguist Deborah Tannen as they apply to communications in the genetic counseling setting. A discourse model will be formulated.
1997
Allyn McConkie-Rosell, MSW
Carrier Testing in Women Who are At-Risk for Fragile X Syndrome
The study explored the psychological response to learning carrier status in women at-risk for Fragile X syndrome and provided valuable information about policy and guidelines for carrier screening in this population.
1996
An interactive workshop focused on grant writing skills and the transference of creative ideas into fundable projects. Twenty-two members attended the workshop held in February in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1995
Brenda Finucane, MS
Genetic Counseling of Women with Mental Retardation: A Search for Strategies to Enhance Understanding and Reproductive Decision Making
This research focused on identifying and publishing specific, reproducible strategies for genetic counselors to enhance their quality and effectiveness when counseling this special needs population.
1994
Deborah L. Eunpu, MS
Funded sabbatical to study the role of psycho-dynamic, couple and family therapy theories and techniques as they apply in the context of genetic counseling. The project had as its primary product the development of a format for presentation and analysis of genetic counseling case material which draws on the literature and experiences of other therapeutic systems.
1993
Katherine Schneider, MPH
Counseling about Cancer: Strategies for Genetic Counselors. (Book)
The tool is being written to assist counselors and eventually other health professionals who identify cancer when taking pedigrees. Rather than creating another didactic tome listing and explaining the more than 200 Mendelian disorders with cancer as part of their phenotype, this reference provides practical strategies for counselors working with patients with a family or personal history of cancer. Ms. Schneider is involved with the high risk breast cancer clinic and helped create the protocol for the p53 predictive testing program in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston.
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Assessment of the Genetic Knowledge of Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Defects and their Parents is anticipated to make important contributions to the field of genetic counseling. The goal of this two-year project is to develop an understanding of the genetic knowledge of adolescents and young adults with congenital heart defects (CHD) and their parents, in order to identify educational needs and provide a foundation for the future development of educational tools.