Week 7 2022

Heather Hampel, MS, CGC is a Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research and Associate Director of the Division of Cancer Genomics at City of Hope National Cancer Center. At City of Hope, she helps lead a team of 17 genetic counselors and 3 genetic counseling assistants and is actively involved in the Center for Precision Medicine INSPIRE study which provides universal germline genetic testing to all City of Hope patients. She has >200 publications on a variety of cancer genetics topics with an emphasis on Lynch syndrome. She was on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Genetic Counseling from 2006-2011 (President, 2009-10). She has been on the Steering Committee of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable since 2016. She was on the Council of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer from 2016-2019 (President, 2017-2018). She was the Secretary/Treasurer of the National Society of Genetic Counselors in 2021-2022. In 2023, she received the Natalie Weissberger Paul National Achievement Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors. In 2025, she received the Achievement Award from the Collaborative Group of the Americas for Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancers.

Dr. Patrick Lynch is a gastroenterologist and scientist with specific expertise in cancer risk for mismatch repair gene mutation carriers. He is a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Lynch received his Law degree and degree in Medicine from Creighton University. His internship and residency were at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed his Fellowship in Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Lynch provides surveillance for patients and families with hereditary colorectal cancers, and is actively involved in the counseling and management of these patients and families. He has led or collaborated on multiple NIH- and industry-funded studies in hereditary colorectal cancers, including basic science, clinical, chemoprevention and behavioral studies. He is a member of Council for and past President of the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumors (INSIGHT) and is past President of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer. He was recently awarded a grant under the UTMDACC “Moonshot” program for further development of a web-based registry for familial cancer families.

LAUREN GIMA, MS, CGC is a board-certified, licensed genetic counselor at City of Hope in Duarte, CA, where she specializes in clinical cancer genomics. She earned her MS degree in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University and BS degree in Human Biology from University of California San Diego. Her primary clinical responsibilities include providing cancer genetic counseling services for City of Hope’s patient population and her primary research interest is in hereditary GI cancer syndromes. Ms. Gima is a faculty member of the City of Hope Intensive Course and Clinical Cancer Genomics Community of Practice, and an adjunct faculty member for the Keck Graduate Institute Genetic Counseling and Genomic Data Analytics masters’ programs. She serves as a clinical rotation supervisor for genetic counseling students and as a mentor for the KGI Genetic Counseling program, providing ongoing support and guidance for new genetic counseling students. Lauren is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancers, the Southern California Genetic Counselors, the Minority Genetics Professionals Network, and the Alliance for Genomic Justice.

Deanna J. Erwin is a genetic counselor at Color Health. She previously was a clinical genetic counselor in the Adult Genetics Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine and at the City of Hope.
 
She has a M.S. in Genetic Counseling from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Biology and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  
 
She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), where she participates in multiple special interest groups (Health IT, Leadership and Management, and Cancer), and committees (Access and Service Delivery and the Research, Quality, and Outcomes). She has a special interest in underserved populations and increasing access to genetic services.