Five Questions for… Alix D’Angelo ’04

Students in Mr. Zell’s Genetics class were recently treated to a special visit from Newman alumna Alix D’Angelo ’04, who turned an early fascination with the field of genetics into a fulfilling career as a genetic counselor. Along the way, Alix earned a Bachelor’s degree in Genetics from the University of Georgia and a Master’s in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. We spoke with Alix about her journey from a student of genetics to a practitioner and instructor in this dynamic area of medicine.

Genetic counseling is the process of assessing family and medical history to determine the risk of a patient having a genetic disorder or having a child affected by a genetic disorder. It also includes explaining the disorder, inheritance and risks for other relatives in terms that families can understand, and providing them with support during what can be an extremely difficult time in their lives. The field is divided into categories such as prenatal, pediatric, cancer, and cardiology. The indications genetic counselors see varies by specialty. For instance, a prenatal counselor might talk to a woman about genetic testing options and the chance for her unborn child to have a genetic disorder after an abnormal ultrasound during pregnancy, or a pediatric counselor might discuss a child’s potential diagnosis and the necessary therapies that will be needed in the future. A cancer counselor might talk to a woman about the likelihood of her developing certain forms of cancers.

My specific area of focus is in craniofacial pediatrics. I see children who are born with cleft lip and/or palate as well as other head and face anomalies, and as part of a diagnostic team, determine if they have a genetic syndrome or simply an isolated birth defect. I then discuss genetic testing options, inheritance patterns, and risks for future children to also be affected, as well as provide families with support group information and other resources. As many of the types of birth defects that I see include dental issues, my job is based out of the University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston.

I was first exposed to genetics when I was only eight years old and my cousin was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes death before the age of five years. My family met with genetic counselors, attended conventions, and belonged to support groups for people going through similar circumstances. It started from there.

I continued that interest into Upper School, where I took Mr. Zell’s Genetics class and interned in a lab at Tulane. I then majored in Genetics at the University of Georgia, and it was during my college years that I learned about genetic counseling, which is a relatively young field but growing rapidly. I decided genetic counseling was the perfect combination of science and interpersonal interaction, and that it was the job I wanted. From there, it was a matter of building my resume in order to get into a genetic counseling master’s program, most of which admit fewer than 10 students a year. They look at your grades and your GRE score, but also your practical counseling experience and exposure to genetic counseling. The programs want to make sure that you are dedicated to the field. My hard work paid off, and I was admitted to the master’s program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. I graduated in 2013 and found my way to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where I currently work.

That it’s never the same every day. Some days I get to teach, whether that’s genetic counseling students, med students, or dental students. Some days I’m supervising in clinics. Some days I’m the one seeing patients. When I’m not doing that, I’m trying to write review articles for medical publications. It’s very fulfilling and exciting when every day is different.

I also appreciate that genetic counseling is such a dynamic field. Much of what I learned a year and a half ago is already obsolete. There are new tests, new disorders that we didn’t have a name for. There’s going to be a need for genetic counselors in areas of health care where they currently don’t exist. It’s constantly expanding. You have to be a life-long learner to be a part of this field.

When I went to college I saw a lot of my friends who went to other high schools struggle academically, but it was such an easy transition for me. I was used to a rigorous academic environment where hard work was the norm.

The fact that I took a course in genetics in high school also gave me a head start. Most of my peers did not have genetics at their schools. And I had the pleasure of learning from Mr. Zell, who was always a lively, relatable teacher. He made class so interesting. I brought that enthusiasm for science with me to college and beyond.

I would advise them to start shadowing practitioners and begin to gain exposure to the field. There are genetic counselors at Tulane and Ochsner that they can reach out to, and there are conferences and meetings that happen in New Orleans that they can attend. Anyone interested should get started early and really start thinking about the different clinical and counseling experiences they might want to have going forward.