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| Tala Berro, MS, CGC | Nadine Channaoui, MS, CGC |
Tala Berro, MS, CGC, of the Division of Genetics and Genomic Medicine and Nadine Channaoui, MS, CGC, of the Heart and Vascular Genetics Program received the Audrey Heimler Special Project Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) for their research project, “Development of Outcome Evaluation Framework for Diversity-Related Projects in Genetic Counseling.”
The NSGC provides an annual award of $10,000 to one or more genetic counselors for a project that focuses on the future of the genetic counseling profession and/or the provision of genetic services.
Berro and Channaoui’s project, which includes collaborators from the Hawaii Department of Health Genetics Program, aims to enhance and ensure the quality of educational tools pertaining to genetic counselors’ abilities to address diversity, inclusion, cultural responsiveness and equity (DICE) by creating a novel evaluation framework template to demonstrate their effectiveness and accountability toward DICE goals of the profession.
Berro is a clinical genetic counselor in the Adult Genetics Clinic and the Preventive Genomics Clinic and a research project manager in the Genomes2People research group at the Brigham. She has published several articles related to LGBTQIA+ genetic counseling considerations, created an online course on learned biases, authored blog posts on diversity issues within the genetic counseling field and is a part of the Boston Minority Genetic Counselors group.
Channaoui is a clinical genetic counselor specializing in hereditary cardiovascular conditions, and an instructor at Boston University School of Medicine and the Institute of Health Professions. She has been recognized for her efforts toward a more equitable and diverse genetic counseling workforce through the NSGC’s 2020 Leader in Diversity and Inclusion Award, selections as a member for two separate national Diversity Task Force committees, and additional leadership positions.
The NSGC promotes the professional interests of genetic counselors, provides a network for professional communications and advances the various roles of genetic counselors in health care by fostering education, research and public policy to ensure the availability of quality genetic services.
