COUNSELOR SPOTLIGHT
Elizabeth Kearney, Class of 1996
Liz Kearney, MS, CGC, MBA is a 1996 graduate of the U of M Genetic Counseling Program. Liz’s career has included a unique combination of experiences in clinical genetic counseling and marketing. She credits the U of M Genetic Counseling Program with providing her an early exposure to a diversity of roles for genetic counselors and for its responsiveness to students’ individual interests. Together these experiences at U of M afforded her with a broader perspective about the field of genetic counseling, and its applications outside direct-patient care.
After graduating in 1996, Liz took a position with Applied Genetics in San Antonio where she created a marketing strategy to increase patient referrals by 150%! After two more successful clinical positions in a high-volume prenatal clinic and at Kaiser Permanente in California, her desire to understand the for-profit side of medicine and her recognition of the need for genetic counselors to have spokespersons in non-medical settings inspired Liz to obtain her MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. With her unique business and genetic counseling skills in hand, Liz then worked at Amgen Inc., Signature Genomics LLC, and Johnson and Johnson, LifeScan, Inc.
Most recently Liz has been elected president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. She is very excited about continuing the amazing work the previous boards have set in motion while also focusing on developing new leaders within the genetic counseling community and representatives within other communities that have a stake in genetic medicine. We look forward to watching Liz’s amazing leadership in action as NSGC president and wish her the best of luck with her many future endeavors!