President
Rikki Gaber Caffrey, MA, MS, CGC president@illinoisgenetics.org Rikki Gaber Caffrey is the Director of the Ethics Program at Advocate Health. She also serves in a part time role as a clinical ethicist, where she is building a Genomics Ethics Committee to provide ethics support regarding genomics issues throughout the health system. She completed a masters degree in Medical Ethics & Humanities from Northwestern University in 2013 prior to earning her masters degree in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University in 2015. She completed her doctorate in Bioethics at Loyola University in 2022. Rikki also provides the ethics education to students for the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University and for Loyola’s Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics.
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Secretary Liana Abramson, MS, CGC secretary@illinoisgenetics.org Liana graduated with a Bachelor's in Neuroscience from the College of William & Mary in 2017 and a Master's in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University. She was certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling in 2019. Liana started her career as a prenatal genetic counselor with the Center for Maternal and Fetal Health at NorthShore Evanston Hospital. There, she was also involved with the IDPH newborn screening program for cystic fibrosis, providing genetic counseling and relevant educational presentations. Liana is currently practicing as a prenatal genetic counselor with the Advocate Illinois Masonic Antenatal Resource Center team. She is a Core Faculty Member of the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling and has been a member of the Illinois Society of Genetic Professionals Since 2017. | Treasurer
Lenika De Simone, MS, CGC treasurer@illinoisgenetics.org Lenika De Simone graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology at Stanford University in 2012 and a master’s degree in Physical Anthropology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2014. She joined Counsyl, a genetic testing company in South San Francisco, and worked as a genetic test billing specialist for 2 years. Lenika received her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University in 2018. She is currently a clinical genetic counselor in the Division of Neurology at Lurie Children’s Hospital and has a special interest in neuromuscular genetics and lab utilization. Lenika is a core faculty member for the Northwestern Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling and has been a member of Illinois Society of Genetic Professionals since 2017. |
Immediate Past-President
Jessica Stoll, MS, CGC Jessica Stoll graduated from the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling and was board certified by ABGC in 2014. She joined Tempus Labs as their first genetic counselor in 2019, where her current role is Director of Genetic Counseling. She has prior clinical experience in cancer genetics, most notably as the Associate Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic at University of Chicago Medicine. Her other career focus has been in educational programming, designing curriculum and presenting on clinical genetics to trainees and practicing clinicians in multiple specialties, including serving as a Core Faculty Member of the Northwestern Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling. She is an active member of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC), currently serving on the Education Committee and as a previous Council member. She has been a member of the Illinois Society of Genetic Professionals (ISGP) since 2014. | President-Elect
Sarah Jurgensmeyer, MS, CGC Sarah graduated from the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling and was board certified by ABGC in 2020. She is a pediatric genetic counselor at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Sarah currently has a clinical interest and focus on Williams syndrome, aortopathies, and general genetics. In addition to her clinic roles, she is also an Instructor of Pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a faculty member for the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University. Sarah previously served as the Chair of the Advocacy Committee for ISGP and became President Elect in 2023. |
Board Member At Large
Erin McGinnis, MS, CGC Erin is one of two genetic counselors in the Neurology Department at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, transitioning to this role in June 2019. Previous experience at Lurie Children’s includes lab utilization management and neuromuscular genetic counseling. She received her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University and has been a board certified, licensed genetic counselor since 2016. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she identifies and consents patients for various Lurie Children's and Northwestern epilepsy and neurogenetics research projects and mentors genetic counseling students. Erin is also a member of the Illinois Society of Genetic Professionals (ISGP) where she previously served as the Chair of the Community Outreach Subcommittee and now serves as a Board Member at Large. | Board Member At LargeJoan Ehrhardt, MS, CGC |
