Addressing Systemic Racism and Disparities in Genetic Testing

Genetic Counselors and You

We want to hear from you! Please take a moment to fill out this short 60-second survey to help us learn more about our audience!

During this global pandemic, social inequities and health disparities are being exposed and discussed more than ever. For some, it’s the first time we’ve talked about social justice or systemic racism in healthcare. For others, we’ve felt their effects for some time. These inequities and disparities also exist within the genetic testing experience. In this episode, we speak to expert researcher and genetic counselor, Altovise T. Ewing, PhD, LCGC, to raise awareness of these issues for people having genetic testing, so they can better navigate them. We also suggest ways that genetic testing developers, marketers, and medical professionals can be aware of and work to dismantle these inequities.

For more information on the topics discussed in this episode, visit aboutgeneticcounselors.com and the following resources:

• “Black History Month: Bearing the torch of equity as an African-American genetic counselor and scientist” by Altovise Ewing, PhD, LCGC: https://www.nsgc.org/p/bl/et/blogaid=1092
• “How Genetics, Race, and Inequality Play Into Misdiagnoses” by Altovise Ewing, PhD, LCGC: https://opmed.doximity.com/articles/how-genetics-race-and-inequality-play-into-misdiagnoses?_csrf_attempted=yes
• “About Genetic Testing”: https://www.aboutgeneticcounselors.org/Genetic-Testing
• NSGC Podcast Series, August episode on diversity and inclusion in genetic counseling research, training, and practice: https://www.nsgc.org/page/podcasts
• Genotypecast podcast from Grey Genetics, Sep 3 episode on being Black in genetic counseling: https://anchor.fm/genotypecast
• The Beagle Has Landed podcast, Jul 6 episode on racism and genetic counseling: https://beaglelanded.com/