Week 1 2021

Ilana Solomon, ScM, MA, is the Deputy Director for the Center for Precision Medicine and a licensed board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She received her Master’s degree Genetic Counseling from the Johns Hopkins/National Human Genome Research Institute. Ilana joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2013, where she has provided cancer genetics services for patients and families suspected to have a hereditary predisposition to cancer. Since 2019 she also manages and develops City of Hope’s Precision Medicine Program, with the goal of providing all City of Hope patients with genomic-driven care at scale. She has research interests in healthcare communication and implementation, genetic literacy, and ELSI in genomics. She helped co-develop Helping Oncology Patients Explore (HOPE) Genomics: a patient-directed IT platform for cancer genome sequencing education and return of results. She is faculty for the City of Hope Intensive Course in Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment. She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and Southern California Genetic Counselors.

SUSAN SHEHAYEB, MS, CGC,  is a licensed board-certified genetic counselor specializing in cancer genetics. She has a Master’s of Science degree in genetic counseling from University of California Irvine. Previous to completing her master’s degree, Ms. Shehayeb earned her bachelor’s degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology from University of California Los Angeles. Ms. Shehayeb joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2017, having previously undergone clinical training at City of Hope. She is fluent in Arabic and is in the process of achieving fluency in Spanish.

Ms. Shehayeb's clinical role has centered on widening patient access to genetic counseling and testing throughout the City of Hope clinical network and on genetics representation and expertise in the setting of gynecologic oncology. She co-leads the curriculum development for educational initiatives within the City of Hope Clinical Division of Cancer Genomics. Her research work and special interests focus on hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, hereditary genodermatoses, precision medicine in hereditary cancer care, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in cancer genetics training. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Southern California Genetic Counselors.

Jeffrey N. Weitzel, MD, is board Certified in Medical Oncology and Clinical Genetics, and founded the Clinical Cancer Genomics Community Research Network. He co-founded the Clinical Cancer Genomics Community of Practice with Dr. Blazer. A Breast Cancer Research Foundation Scholar and an honorary Professor of Oncology for the Latin American School of Oncology, he is also the ASCO Conquer Cancer Research Professor in Breast Cancer Disparities. At the vanguard of precision prevention, Dr. Weitzel’s multidisciplinary clinical, research, and training experience emphasize translational research in cancer disparities, genomic cancer risk assessment, chemoprevention, targeted therapy, clinical and psychosocial outcomes, genetic epidemiology and health services research, with a focus on underserved populations. Dr. Weitzel received the American Society of Human Genetics Arno Motulsky-Barton Childs Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education.