In the increasingly complex field of genetic diagnostic testing, genetic counselors serve as a vital link between the laboratory and the clinician. As part of our comprehensive services, the Warren G. Sanger Human Genetics Laboratory team includes licensed and board-certified genetic counselors to assist providers and their patients. Our genetic counselors have current clinical experience as well as dedicated areas of expertise, ranging from prenatal and postnatal genetics to oncology.
As liaisons between providers and laboratory services, genetic counselors at the Warren G. Sanger Human Genetics Laboratory:
- Recommend indication-specific testing strategies
- Request additional clinical information for improved testing and interpretation
- Notify providers of STAT results
- Discuss test results and pertinent management issues with ordering provider
Our laboratory genetic counselors also actively participate in a number of other laboratory functions, beginning with a review of the ordered tests at specimen receipt and extending beyond the laboratory to provider education.
- Test ordering review
- Test analysis and interpretation, including clinical correlation
- Result reporting
- Provider education
- Research and development
Joanna Spaulding, MS, LCGC
Joanna joined UNMC in June 2017, moving back to the Midwest after several years of clinical practice in southern California. Originally from Kansas City, she graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology; she went on to obtain her Master of Science degree through the genetic counseling training program at the University of Colorado Denver in 2009.