Promoting Genetic Counselors in Independent Research Through Advanced Training and Education (PROMOTE-GC)

Genetic counseling is increasingly recommended as a key component of genomic medicine across specialties. Genetic counselors are clinically effective with acumen identifying and interpreting genetic tests, facilitating cascade genetic testing, and promoting patient empowerment. Many have extensive disease-specific subject matter expertise and deep clinical insights that are valued by patients and colleagues alike. Despite these strengths, genetic counselors’ research engagement has been limited due to: 1) insufficient practical research experience, 2) limited didactic research design and methods training, and 3) narrow professional research networks all leading to lack of research confidence, particularly in younger genetic counselors. The consequences are that research questions vital to advancing genomic medicine and ELSI research in which genetic counselors hold key expertise have been underfunded and under-researched. PROMOTE-GC is a tailored 18-24 month part-time (12 person-month) research training program for early-mid career genetic counselors who wish to develop skills to conduct independent genomic medicine or ELSI research that is designed to overcome these barriers. PROMOTE-GC leverages the breadth of genomics expertise across Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to achieve three aims. 1) We will guide participants in mentored intensive practical research experiences. These include longitudinal engagement with a research mentoring team, embedding in a funded genomics medicine or ELSI research team to complete a small research project, and drafting a grant. 2) We will engage the many resources at JHU to provide tailored didactic training in research methodology. We plan a Fundamentals of Genetic Counseling Research course developed specifically for PROMOTE-GC participants and also will guide participants to enroll in highly-rated research methods courses to meet their interests and professional goals. We also provide opportunities to attend in-depth offsite research training courses. 3) Finally, we will facilitate participants in creating a durable, multidisciplinary professional research community to support their future careers through supporting genetics professional society engagement, assisting in outreach to methods experts and mentors, and providing carefully planned opportunities to engage a multidisciplinary community of experts in evaluating new research and its future implications. The long-term over-arching goal of PROMOTE-GC is to benefit not only the individual genetic counselors who participate, but also the genetic counseling and genomic medicine enterprise by enhancing the research capacity of these vital members of the genomic medicine workforce.