New faculty spotlight: Kristen Fishler

Kristen Fishler is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Kristen Fishler
• Hometown: Baltimore
• Title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor/certified genetic counselor, Munroe-Meyer Institute Department of Genetic Medicine

Research/professional interests:

• Ethical, legal, and social issues of implementing whole genome sequencing in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU);
• Genetic consultation in the NICU; and
• Genetic-counseling student self-efficacy in performing research-related tasks.

How I fell in love with genetics: I fell in love with genetics after learning about the human genome project in high school and shadowing a genetic counselor in college. It is both inspiring and humbling to think about how much we have yet to learn about this field. I knew I wanted to be a genetic counselor after discovering that the training fosters skill in providing information and partnering with patients and their families to facilitate shared decision making.

Degrees:

• M.S., University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, 2016-2018
• B.S., University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, 2010-2014

Memberships:

• National Society for Genetic Counselors

Three things people may not know about me:

• I have a white bulldog puppy.
• I was on a competitive jump rope team in grade school.
• I am a pho-natic, always looking for the perfect bowl of pho!

Clinic location: Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, 8200 Dodge St., Omaha