Genetic counsellors talk shop, from single genes to national screening.
Genetic counsellor Matt Burgess interviews fellow counsellors, educators and patients about how hereditary conditions are tested for, counselled and lived with. Conversations range from embryo testing in IVF and genomic newborn screening to hereditary cancer genes, sickle cell disease, and how new counsellors find their footing in the profession.
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Demystifying Genetics is an interview show in which a genetic counsellor questions the people around his field: colleagues, educators, and patients living with hereditary conditions. Matt Burgess hosts, and since many of his guests share his profession, the conversations are comfortable getting technical. Erica Pai, a Canadian genetic counsellor at a large IVF company, is a good example. She explains how linkage analysis uses parents' DNA to work out which copy of a gene carries a variant, so that copy can be tracked into embryos. Hereditary cancer is another thread. With Sara Pirzadeh - Miller the gene is CDH1, linked to hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, where a preventive gastrectomy can mean trading one serious problem for another. She also describes families who share a genotype yet see very different outcomes. Dan Shockley brings the patient's view. A Navy veteran, he was diagnosed at 51 with attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis after a colonoscopy found a hundred polyps, and he talks openly about the surgery that left him with a permanent ostomy. The host pauses to have him explain the term for anyone unfamiliar with it, and Dan repeats his mantra: 'always forge ahead with a purpose.' Two episode titles name a guest's favourite gene, APC for Dan and CDH1 for Sara. Screening policy gets its turn through Kirsten Boggs, a senior genetic counsellor and co-founder of GCR Connect, who talks about counsellor-led research and the lessons of Mackenzie’s Mission, Australia's national reproductive carrier screening program. She calls a shift to genomic newborn screening inevitable on technology and cost grounds, concedes the view may be controversial, and asks whether a baby's whole-genome data should be stored, and for how long. Barbara Harrison, an assistant professor and genetic counsellor at Howard University, talks about counselling for conditions that affect proportionally more Black people: APOL1-related kidney disease and sickle cell disease. She traces part of her interest to childhood visits with two cousins in Baltimore who had sickle cell, and to watching how it shaped their family. The profession itself is a subject here, too. Rachel Mills, a North Carolina genetic counsellor whose PhD examined what helps junior counsellors become confident, connected professionals, talks about mentorship, conferences and belonging. In that conversation the host raises a certification gap in Australia and New Zealand, where graduates working in policy, research or academia cannot sit the board exam. Sara Pirzadeh - Miller's early graduate research, on the values that guide genetic counselling practice, belongs to the same strand. Where to begin depends on what a listener wants: Dan Shockley for a patient's story, Erica Pai for the mechanics of embryo testing, Kirsten Boggs for screening policy.
Made for: Suits a listener training for or working in genetic counselling who wants to hear colleagues compare notes. It also suits anyone facing a hereditary diagnosis, carrier screening or embryo testing who wants to hear how counsellors reason through those decisions.
What sets it apart: The interviewer is himself a genetic counsellor, so conversations with colleagues get into working detail such as linkage analysis and certification rules. Patient guests like Dan Shockley keep the lived reality of a diagnosis in view.
This is a podcast series called Demystifying Genetics where I, Dr Matt Burgess, Genetic Counsellor interview other genetic counsellors, people working in genetics or people affected by genetic conditions. We chat about human clinical genetics, genetic counselling, ethics, pyschosocial issues and more. To contact me, please reach out at matt at insightgenomica dot au.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A thoughtful conversation on how genetic counsellors build identity, belonging, and a profession still finding its shape.
Professional identity is the anchor of this conversation with Dr. Rachel Mills, a North Carolina genetic counsellor whose PhD examined how junior genetic counsellors become more confident and connected in their work.
A grounded patient story about genetic diagnosis, permanent ostomy, and learning to adapt.
Dan Drydock Shockley's story turns on a routine colonoscopy at 50, undertaken despite no symptoms or family history, that found 100 polyps across the colon, rectum, and anus, including one causing an 80% blockage in the ascending colon.
A thoughtful, grounded review of genetic counselling, CDH1 risk, and the difficult choices that sit between evidence and lived experience.
Genetic counselling sits at the point where inherited risk stops being abstract and becomes a choice someone has to carry. Genetic counsellor Sarah Pizade-Miller reflects on early graduate school research into the values that shape the field, giving the episode a thoughtful…
A grounded conversation about genetic counsellor-led research and the questions shaping genomic screening in Australia.
Genetic counselling comes through as a practical part of genomic medicine, not just a supporting service around it. Kirsten Boggs discusses her work with GCR Connect, the platform she co-founded to bring genetic counsellors across Australia together, alongside her role with…
A careful, grounded look at how embryo testing turns genetic linkage into a reproductive decision.
Pre-implantation genetic testing is treated here as both a technical workflow and a deeply personal choice: a way for people to reduce the risk of passing on inherited conditions before pregnancy begins.
Mushroom culture from soil to society.
Clear neuroscience for curious minds.
Plant papers, jokes, and useful uncertainty.
Weed science, from genomes to paddocks.
Biomedical careers, described from the inside.
Human stakes behind biomedical progress.
Matt Burgess speaks with Dr.
Matt Burgess' Demystifying Genetics episode follows Navy veteran Dan Drydock Shockley, who was diagnosed at 51 with attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis after a routine colonoscopy found 100 polyps and an 80% blockage.
Demystifying Genetics with Matt Burgess and Sarah Pizade-Miller ties a 20-year-old values study to CDH1, hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, and counseling decisions for high-risk families.
Kirsten Boggs says GCR Connect grew from informal Zoom chats into a 130-plus-member network for genetic counsellors doing research across Australasia.
Demystifying Genetics turns to pre-implantation genetic testing with Erica Pye, a Canadian genetic counsellor who works in IVF and helps families decide before pregnancy begins.
Demystifying Genetics host Matt Burgess interviews Howard University genetic counsellor Barbara Harrison about ApoL1-related kidney disease, sickle cell disease, and inequities in genomic care.
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Dr Jodie Ingalls, who leads cardiac genomics at the Garvin Institute of Medical Research, explains how inherited heart conditions are identified and managed after sudden cardiac events.
Demystifying Genetics host Matt, a genetic counsellor in Melbourne, speaks with Sandra Peacock, a Houston genetic counsellor, about Huntington’s disease, exclusion testing, gene therapy, laboratory gatekeeping, and genetic-counselling practice.
Matt Burgess interviews Canadian genetic counsellor Rachel Van Est about an early confidentiality mistake, counselling in French, and career changes across clinical, sales, laboratory, and research roles.
Dawn Allen of Ohio State University describes how genetic counseling shifted from limited rural telehealth to a model in which almost all 20 faculty counselors provide roughly three quarters of their services remotely.
Patrick Shaw, scientist and CEO of Sano Genetics, explains how his company connects genetic data and patient participation with precision-medicine research.
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Demystifying Genetics host Matt interviews American genetic counsellor Dr.
Geerden Schwartz of Genetics explains how carrier screening is offered to anyone with Jewish ancestry, including people with one Jewish grandparent and couples with mixed ancestry.
Dina Goldberg, known online as Dina DNA, describes moving from board-certified genetic counseling and clinical work at UCSF into public education through media and social platforms.
Daryl Beach tells genetic counsellor Matt Burgess how childhood clumsiness, sore legs from jogging in his early 30s, and a physical diagnosis eventually led to a SORD gene diagnosis roughly 20 years later.
Devin Schumann, a genetic counsellor with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome caused by changes in GUK1, describes how research exome analysis and functional studies finally identified his family’s genetic explanation.
Matt Burgess interviews Peter Critchley about Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A, a hereditary peripheral neuropathy that can slow nerve signals to one-fifth to one-tenth of normal speed.
Erika Ramos explains why HFE and hereditary hemochromatosis became her favorite genetics example after ACMG guidance shifted from discouraging testing to including C282I homozygosity in secondary findings.
Matt interviews fellow genetic counsellor Kate Wilson, host of All Access DNA, about making genetics understandable to a general audience.
Matt Burgess and Joshua Nolan discuss men in genetic counselling, where Burgess cites males as about 5% of the workforce.
Ahmed Sharif Kenvelo Youssef describes becoming one of Ghana's first genetic counsellors while the Allied Health Professions Council of Ghana establishes regulation for the profession.
Matt, host of Demystifying Genetics, interviews Toronto genetic counsellor Jamie Jessen-Brown about how the profession now spans clinical care, somatic tumor testing, oncology, and medical science liaison work.
Matt Burgess and Kylie Morgan compare genetic counselling in the NHS and Australia, focusing on national guidelines, state funding, and unequal access to testing.
Lauren Giannetti-Safaza, a New Jersey genetic counsellor, explains how moving from four and a half years of fertility-center patient care into industry expanded her potential reach beyond individual appointments.
Dr.
On Demystifying Genetics, Dr.
Matt and Angela Arnold-Ross, Australian genetic counsellors living in New Jersey, discuss being laid off after long clinical careers and rebuilding their work lives.
Demystifying Genetics host Matt Burgess interviews Sydney-based cardiac genetic counsellor Dr Laura Yates about certification, inherited heart disease, and genetic counsellor wellbeing.
Matt Burgess interviews Sarah Powell, CEO of Inherited Cancers Australia, about her triple-negative breast-cancer diagnosis at 29 and subsequent BRCA1 result.
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Matt Burgess and Dr Erica Spaeth explain polygenic risk scores through a bag-of-rice analogy, contrasting one barely visible SNP with the combined effect of many small genetic differences.
Matt Burgess interviews Gillian Hooker about the emotional work, education, technology, and policy challenges surrounding genetic counselling.
Matt Burgess interviews Cathy Langley, whose father and grandmother had Huntington disease, about the condition’s fatal course and 50% inheritance risk for children of an affected parent.
Kira Dineen tells Matt Burgess how DNA Today began 12 years ago while she was in high school and later reached the top 1% of podcasts globally.
Matt Burgess interviews genetic counsellor and PhD researcher Sarah Long about reproductive genetic counselling, non-invasive prenatal testing, and the expanding use of whole-exome sequencing.
Matt Burgess interviews Susan Manley, Myriad’s Senior Vice President of Medical Services, about the BRCA1 and BRCA2 patent dispute and Myriad’s later ClinVar contributions.
Catherine Van Diemen describes her path from a genetics degree and graduate diploma in genetic counselling to data management and her current TrackGene roles.
Matt Burgess interviews genetic counsellor, academic, and Human Genetic Society of Australasia president Dr Alison McEwen about building genetic counselling education at the University of Technology Sydney.
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Matt Burgess talks with Julia Mansour, a genetic counsellor admitted to the Supreme Court of the ACT, about testing minors under the Human Genetic Society of Australasia position statement, which she co-authored.
Janice Berliner, a board-certified genetic counsellor and Bay Path University program director, describes moving from prenatal counseling into education, writing, and fiction.
Demystifying Genetics host Matt Burgess interviews Laura Forrest about her PhD on familial communication, mixed-methods research, and measuring outcomes in genetic counseling.
Pilar Magoulas describes leading a division of about 45 genetic counsellors while building committees, monthly journal clubs, retreats, and a promotion ladder.
Ellie Lynch describes working remotely as a senior genetic counsellor during Melbourne’s second COVID-19 lockdown, including telehealth consultations for Huntington disease predictive testing.
Matt interviews certified genetic counselor Ellen about BRCA testing, My Gene Counsel, and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week.
Matt Burgess interviews clinical geneticist Michael Field about Fragile X, X-linked intellectual disability, and genetic diagnosis for families with learning problems.
Matt Burgess interviews Newcastle social worker John Conaghan about Huntington disease, an inherited neurological condition involving cognitive impairment, involuntary movements, mobility loss, and personality change.
Matt Burgess interviews clinical geneticist Martin Delatycki about ataxia, especially Friedreich's ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.