Week 7 2025

Dr. Idos is a board-certified gastroenterologist and trained cancer geneticist, who specializes in the care of patients with Lynch syndrome, FAP (familial adenomatous polyposis) and other inherited syndromes. The goal of his research is to find new ways to prevent cancer and to improve treatment and care for cancer patients.

A UCLA graduate, Dr. Idos has a master’s degree from Keck School of Medicine of USC. He received his medical degree at University of Vermont, continued his residency training at USC and completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard. Dr. Idos is an associate clinical professor in Division of Gastroenterology and leads one of the largest multicenter studies examining the benefits and harms of “multiplex” gene panel testing. His research also focuses on the evaluation of novel technologies with the goal of providing new tools for hereditary cancer risk assessment and the development of novel cellular models to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of microsatellite instability and Lynch syndrome.

Sonia S. Kupfer is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL. She is the Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic and co-Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Risk and Prevention clinic at the University of Chicago. She is funded by a K08 career development award from the NIH/NCI to study colorectal cancer genetic susceptibility variants in African Americans. Dr. Kupfer is also currently investigating genetics related to chemopreventive agents for colorectal cancer, notably vitamin D. In addition to her translational research, Dr. Kupfer is actively engaged in clinical studies in high-risk colorectal cancer primarily Lynch syndrome. Her clinical work focuses on hereditary GI cancer evaluation, testing and management. She also has served as co-Director of two CME conferences on genomics. Dr. Kupfer received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and then completed medical school, residency, chief residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at the University of Chicago. She is originally from a northern suburb of Chicago and currently resides in the Hyde Park area with her husband, an art dealer, and her two children.

RACHELLE MANOOKIAN, MS, CGC is a licensed and board-certified cancer genetic counselor specializing in pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). She was previously with the Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics at City of Hope, and before that, a general genetic counselor at the West VA Medical Center. She brings her growing expertise in medical education to her role as an adjunct faculty member for the Keck Graduate Institute Genetic Counseling and Genomic Data Analytics master’s programs. She serves as a faculty mentor, graduate capstone supervisor, and rotation supervisor for current genetic counseling students. She is actively engaged in the Fanconi anemia community and has been a volunteer at Fanconi Anemia Family Week since 2016, and she is a two-time nominee of the Heart of Genetic Counseling Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

SANDRA DREIKE, MS, CGC is a licensed board-certified genetic counselor who specializes in cancer genetics. Sandra joined the City of Hope Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics in 2019, where she provides genetic counseling and cancer genetic risk assessments as a Senior Genetic Counselor. She received her Master of Science degree is Genetic Counseling from University of California, Irvine and her bachelor’s degree in Biology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She previously practiced as a genetic counselor in Honolulu, HI where she specialized in cancer genetics and general pediatric and adult genetics. In addition to patient care she is a faculty member of the City of Hope Intensive Course and Clinical Cancer Genomics Community of Practice, and research. Sandra is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) and Southern California Genetic Counselors (SCGC).