UPenn / Arcadia U MSGC Program

Congratulations to Laynie Dratch, ScM, LCGC, the recipient of the UPenn MSGC Program’s 2026 Outstanding Supervisor Award!

Laynie works as a research and clinical genetic counselor in adult neurogenetics at Penn Medicine, with a focus in frontotemporal degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spectrum disorders. She received her ScM in genetic counseling from the Johns Hopkins University / NIH training program in 2020.

She was nominated for this award by second year students in the UPenn program, who called her “an absolutely incredible supervisor who counsels with compassion, kindness, and a genuineness which taught so much about how to provide psychosocial support to patients.” Several students noted that she gave clear and timely, thoughtful, actionable feedback, to recognize both growth and success and to point out missed opportunities, all of which allowed them to become more competent, confident and compassionate counselors. They appreciated her balance of support and encouragement to try new things, the learning opportunities and career mentorship she offered, and the excellent counseling skills she modeled.

Thank you, Laynie, for your work as an outstanding supervisor!

With more than 400 graduates of the UPenn (formerly Arcadia University) MSGC program, it’s no surprise to run into other alums. In Philadelphia last week, at the 18th Prenatal Diagnosis, Ultrasound/Fetal ECHO, Genetics, and Obstetrics/Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference, hosted by the Philadelphia Pregnancy Center, three 2025 graduates met up with three brand new 2026 grads.
The 2025 grads are all prenatal genetic counselors: Melanie Nettler at VCH Health Charlotte S. Benjamin Center for Women’s Health in Arlington, VA; Cameron Bell in Maternal Fetal Health at NYU Langone Health; and Lauren Lairson in Fetal Health at Nemours Children’s Health in Delaware. At the conference, they met up with newly minted graduates Isabella Brown, Emily Janeiro and Marin Kalista.

Here’s what Marin had to say about the conference: "Attending the Philadelphia Prenatal Conference was an excellent learning experience! The conference days were packed with incredible talks on topics ranging from practices in expanded carrier screening, to prenatal presentations of classic genetic syndromes, to updates on fetal therapies. I especially appreciated the patient panel, where three parents discussed their experiences receiving a s*x chromosome aneuploidy diagnosis for their child. Their stories were so insightful and gave me a number of considerations to take with me as I enter into the profession as a newly graduated GC. I am thankful for the opportunity to have spent such an educational few days at the conference!"

Congratulations to Associate Program Director Lisa Kessler who has successfully defended her dissertation, “A Multiple Perspective Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of Mentoring Relationships and Sense of Belonging in Genetic Counseling Education,” to earn her PhD in Education and Leadership from Pacific University.

Lisa’s studies have enhanced her expertise in her long-time interest in graduate genetic counseling education and mentorship. A 2000 graduate of the Arcadia University Genetic Counseling Master’s program (now at UPenn), she has worked in program leadership, first at Arcadia and now at the University of Pennsylvania, since 2012.

Congratulations Dr. Kessler!

We couldn't be prouder of our UPenn MSGC Program Class of 2026! Congratulations on your graduation. We can't wait to see what you do next! 🎓🎉🧬

The UPenn MSGC Program's Class of 2026 doesn't simply complete assignments or pass milestones. The 18 members of this soon-to-graduate cohort seem to take every challenge as an opportunity to learn, to teach, to support, to grow, and, put simply, to astonish us with their abilities, intelligence, and dedication to becoming knowledgable, caring genetic counselors.

Thesis Day 2026 did not disappoint. The scholarship of their research projects, the respectful partnerships they have formed with their research teams, the breadth and depth of their interests, and their polished, professional presentations were showcased in a day-long culmination of their academic work here at UPenn.

Very well done, Class of 2026! We are so proud of you.

We can't wrap up our wrap up of this week's Colloquium without a big shout out to all the second year students, some of whom are pictured here, who shared their thesis research with the Penn Medicine and CHOP community, along with master's students from the other 13 professional master's programs in the Perelman School of Medicine. It felt like the kick off to graduation!

We had the privilege and pleasure of hearing Dr. Paul Offit in conversation with Dr. Emma Meagher, Associate Dean of the Master's and Certificate Programs, in addition to many other roles at Penn. The co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and author of eleven books about science, medicine, and vaccines, Dr. Offit is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at UPenn. He has served on key advisory committees on vaccines and immunization policy for the FDA and CDC and continues to research and educate the public about the importance of vaccination. Coincidentally, he was featured on the cover of this month's Philadelphia magazine!

Congratulations to Dr. Tiff Hartman, who received an Excellence in Teaching Award at this week’s Perelman School of Medicine’s Master’s Student Research Colloquium. Tiff was enthusiastically nominated by the second-year students in the UPenn MSGC program, who celebrated with her on Monday.

Tiff is the course director for Advanced Genetics and Genomics, the co-director for the Professional Development course, and works closely with students in the Introduction to GC Research course and as a thesis mentor. She is the Assistant Director of the MSGC program and the Associate Director of the Advanced Research Training for Genetic Counselors Certificate Program. And all this comes after her career as a bench scientist at Fox Chase Cancer Center and her work as a genetic counselor at CHOP’s Roberts Individualized Medical Genetics Center, where she focused on children with hearing loss.

Congratulations to Samantha Kasselman! Sammy received a poster award at the 2026 Perelman School of Medicine's Master's Student Research Symposium for her outstanding study involving pancreatic surveillance eligibility criteria. Sammy worked with data from the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium, an international, multi-institutional collaborative group of experts working to increase survival for pancreatic cancer patients, and an excellent team of mentors including Bryson Katona, MD, PhD; Jess Long, MS, LCGC, pictured here, and Tiff Hartman, PhD, LCGC.

We welcome anyone who plans to apply to a graduate genetic counseling program this fall and beyond to join us for "Making the Most of the Next Sixth Months," a virtual open house on Tuesday, June 16th at 7PM Eastern time. We'll focus on what you can do between now and the end of the year to strengthen your application.

The link to register is in our Linktr.ee and in the comments.

Match Day is always one of the most exciting days of the year - and it's just the beginning! Congratulations to everyone who matched today. We are thrilled to welcome the Class of 2028 to the UPenn MSGC Program!!🎉