Q&A: Elena Kessler, Pediatric Genetic Counselor

 

Elena Kessler is a graduate of the Pitt Genetic Counseling Program and now works at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP). In addition to seeing regular pediatric patients, she began the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Program and sees many oncology patients. Pitt genetic counseling students have the opportunity to rotate through this program during their second year!

 

Why did you decide to become a genetic counselor?

I was in my junior year of college taking a genetics class as a bio major, and at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation. I loved all my psych classes, and considered some jobs in that realm, but I was deep into the bio path at that point. I considered physical therapy and athletic training, but after shadowing those professionals, the careers did not click for me. I really liked my genetics class, and one day we learned about the field of genetic counseling. We were assigned a case to present to the class, and I played the role of GC with my lab partners playing a couple with a family history of fetal alcohol syndrome. Everyone’s cases were really interesting! After class, I asked some questions and my professor told me more about the field. He mentioned that he knew a GC in my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and thought it could be a career for me to consider. After learning more about peds genetics, I thought back about many kids and families I spent time with as a child while my parents officiated the Special Olympics. I knew I wanted to work with and help people in some way, and many aspects of the field achieve that, so I found my path towards GC!

 

Why did you decide to specialize in pediatric genetic counseling?

After completing my rotations in grad school, I had interests in both peds and oncology. I spent the first 3 years working in the GI genetics clinic, and then moved to CHP when a position became available. I love that in peds specifically, you often have a long-term relationship with the family and can continue helping them and updating them for years.

 

What is an average day like for you?

Fast-paced and unpredictable. I see patients 2-3 days per week, and other days are spent calling out results, and doing other patient-centered tasks.

 

What is your favorite part about being a genetic counselor?

Helping families understand the child’s test results and connecting them with valuable resources. Many of the conditions we deal with are ultra rare, and newly discovered. We have a unique role to empower families in this learning process with us. I think I learn something new every day in this job

 

What inspired you to develop the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition program, and what has that experience been like?

After my experience working in adult genetics, I naturally became the point person at CHP for oncology cases. But we rarely saw the oncology patients in genetics, both due to low referral rates and the numerous other priority visits these families frequently have. And many oncologists weren’t as up to date on pediatric cancer syndromes, so they didn’t think genetics was needed. Our currently graduating hem/onc physicians are trained extensively on genetics, mostly due to the many somatic changes that occur in tumors. One day, I had the opportunity to present at the hem/onc staff meeting about genetics, which was great, and physicians would periodically contact me about patients, but it was still rare. Over the years, more large institutions developed pediatric cancer genetics clinics, so I expressed interest to Dr. Vockley in teaming up with hem/onc to see these patients. In 2016, the hem/onc department hired a new physician, Dr. Wendy Chang, and she had experience during her fellowship working with genetic counselors. We started from scratch developing every aspect of the clinic until we launched officially in 2017. We presented information about our new clinic and gave an educational seminar to 7 different departments around the hospital, and we created pamphlets for the hem/onc waiting room and survivorship clinic appointments. Currently I run the program with Dr. Julia Meade, who is a neurooncologist. I now spend the majority of my time in oncology, with a few patients in medical genetics every week or so. In the next year or two, I will likely move over there full time!

 

Is there anything that surprised you when you first started working as a genetic counselor?

You can be as knowledgeable and prepared for a case as possible, but psychosocial issues and unexpected questions will continue to challenge you. Those are fun things though 😊