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Meet Licensed & Certified Genetic Counselor Tanner Coleman, MS, CGC

By: Jazmine Robinson 
Edited by: Sarah Sharman, PhD 

Genetic information plays a crucial role in understanding and managing various health conditions. From diagnosing inherited diseases to predicting future risks, genetic testing and counseling provide invaluable insights. Genetic counselors are highly trained professionals who play a vital role in interpreting test results, assessing family history, and guiding individuals and families through the often challenging process of making informed healthcare decisions.

Today’s Face of Innovation is Tanner Coleman, MS, CGC, one of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology’s four genetic counselors. Tanner has been at HudsonAlpha since 2021, seeing patients at the Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine, being involved in different educational programs in the educational outreach department, and supporting research initiatives across the institute.

Jazmine Robinson: Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

Tanner: I’m originally from a small town near Aiken, South Carolina, which is right on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. I grew up there and went to undergrad at the University of South Carolina, and then to graduate school at UNC Greensboro for their genetic counseling program. 

Jazmine: What inspired you to pursue a career in genetic counseling?

Tanner: I was always interested in biology and genetics in general, but it took me a while to figure out exactly where I fit in. Originally, I planned on going to medical school but fell in love with research during undergrad. A couple of years after that, I fell out of love with biological bench research and got almost to graduation still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my biology degree. When you search, ‘What can you do with a biology degree that’s not a PhD or medical school,’ genetic counseling comes up. Genetic counseling turned out to be a really good fit for me. My passion for biology and genetics, combined with my ability to connect with patients and educate them about complex genetic information, made it a rewarding career path. 

Jazmine: What does your day-to-day look like at work?

Tanner: Sometimes outside providers send genetic testing themselves to varying degrees of success, so those patients come in, and we’re just talking about them and their results. But most of the time, we meet with patients before we send testing, and it’s generally an hour-long appointment that we set aside. At that appointment, if we think it’s appropriate, we order genetic testing. Those results come back in a few weeks to a few months, depending on the test, and then we generally have them come back in for another follow-up appointment to discuss the results. 

In rare cases, we might see somebody for a couple of other appointments, but most of the time, it’s for two appointments, maximum. Our roles are much more focused on a time-limited interaction where we can be helpful and help them come to terms with results. Most of the time, we are just one stop on their journey, and it’s, hopefully, a memorable, good stop. But we definitely acknowledge that, especially when we’re giving back really bad news.

Jazmine: That’s really powerful and something I’d not thought about before. How do you handle those harder conversations with patients? 

Tanner: A lot of times, when we’re giving harder diagnoses, it is for people who have had a chronic disease. They know that something medically is concerning, and they know that these symptoms exist because they’ve been dealing with them for years. When we give back answers for those, most of the time, that is good news, and they’re very happy to finally have an answer, because they’ve been undiagnosed for this entire time. 

The tricky ones are when we’re giving back a diagnosis, and we’re saying things are going to get worse. Those are always difficult, especially if you think about a young child. You’re telling a family member or their parents that this is what’s happening now, and this is what the future is going to look like. Sometimes that’s not as nice of a conversation, but this is why we get into this profession. We get a lot of training in that, and somebody has to give that news, and we’d rather it be given by someone who will be sensitive to patients’ emotions. 

Jazmine: Do you ever have patients who come in looking for general knowledge about their health? 

Tanner: That is a really good question. When people think about genetic counseling, most of the time, they’re thinking about doing testing for a medical reason. However, we frequently receive calls from individuals seeking general information about their genetic predispositions, and we welcome these consultations. Providing proactive information empowers individuals to make informed decisions about their health.

Some of our skills as genetic counselors involve going through somebody’s medical and family history and seeing if there are any signs or red flags that might point us toward a single genetic cause. If so, we might think about testing, but most of the time, those are just talking appointments. We give them information, talk about what testing is available, and consider whether it would actually answer the question that they’re looking for. 

An example that we’re getting a lot more is patients who come in wanting to know what their risk is for Alzheimer’s disease. There are some genetic markers that we know about, things like ApoE testing to know about somebody’s risk for late onset Alzheimer’s. We can always talk to them about testing that is available and what those genetic results actually mean because it’s not always as straightforward as they think it is. Generally, those patients are fairly reassured by the information we can give them, but if not, the testing is available. 

Jazmine: What advice would you give to students who would be interested in pursuing a career in genetic counseling?

Tanner: I think the biggest advice that any of us can give in the field is to get as many shadowing opportunities or exposures as you can. It’s very competitive to get into genetic counseling schools. It is important to show dedication to the field, whether that’s through your work experiences, volunteer experiences, shadowing and seeing patients and interacting with them. The best way you can learn if this field is a good fit for you and if it’s something you really like, is through experience.