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People in the News: New Appointments at ACMG, InterVenn Biosciences, Castle Biosciences, More

ACMG: Susan Klugman, Shweta Dhar, Hutton Kearney, David Stevenson, Jerry Vockley

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics has added five new members to its board of directors, including its new president-elect. They will serve six-year terms starting this month.

Susan Klugman is ACMG's president-elect. She is the director of the division of reproductive and medical genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Klugman holds an a bachelor of science in biometry and statistics from Cornell University and an MD from New York University School of Medicine. She is board certified in clinical genetics and in obstetrics and gynecology.

Shweta Dhar is an associate professor in the department of molecular and human genetics and the department of internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. She is a graduate of Nathiba Hargovandas Lakhmichand Municipal Medical College in India and holds an MS in biotechnology from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. She is board certified in clinical genetics and internal medicine.

Hutton Kearney is vice chair of hereditary genomics in the Mayo Clinic Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics and an assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathology. She holds a BS in secondary education from Auburn University and a PhD in genetics and molecular biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is board certified in clinical cytogenetics and clinical molecular genetics.

David Stevenson is a professor of pediatrics in the division of medical genetics at Stanford University. He holds a BA in biology from Utah State University and an MD from the University of Utah.

Jerry Vockley is chief of the division of medical genetics and director of the Center for Rare Disease Therapy at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He holds an undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University as well as an MD and a PhD in genetics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is board certified in clinical genetics and in clinical biochemical/molecular genetics.


InterVenn Biosciences: James Allison, Padmanee Sharma

InterVenn Biosciences, a company specializing in glycoproteomics for precision medicine applications, has appointed James Allison and Padmanee Sharma to its advisory board.

Allison is chair of the Department of Immunology, chair for cancer research, director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, and executive director of the immunotherapy program at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In 2018 Allison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of a new way to treat cancer by leveraging the body's immune system to attack the tumor.

Sharma is professor in the Departments of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology and chair in cell biology in the Cancer Medicine Division at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her translational research focuses on learning how to apply immune-based therapeutic strategies to manipulate components of the human immune system to lead to tumor regression.


Castle Biosciences: Kristen Oelschlager

Castle Biosciences has appointed Kristen Oelschlager as chief operating officer. Oelschlager had been serving as the company's chief operations officer since August 2020. Prior to that, she served as senior vice president of clinical operations from January 2018 to August 2020, VP of clinical operations from 2013 to 2018, and executive director of operations from October 2008 to 2013.

Oelschlager also served as director of clinical research for Arizona Pulmonary Specialists from May 1996 to September 2008.


For additional recent items on executive appointments and promotions in the omics and molecular diagnostics industries, please see the People in the News page on our website.

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