Medical Genetics Training Programs

The Greenwood Genetic Center Metabolic Advanced Practice Provider (GGC MAPP) Fellowship is a 12-month training program designed to prepare a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant to assist in the diagnosis and medical management of individuals with Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs). Applicants will have a degree from an accredited graduate program and either NP or PA certification.

GGC currently provides clinical diagnostic evaluations across the entire state of South Carolina with 10 physicians, 13 genetic counselors, 3 metabolic dieticians, 2 physician assistants, 1 nurse practitioner, and 1 neuropsychologist. Patients with confirmed LSDs receive disease-specific therapy (when available), care coordination, and specialized laboratory services.

The trainee will be mentored by Dr. R. Curtis Rogers in the Greenville GGC office, where the majority of LSD patients are followed. The MAPP Fellow will participate in clinical visits for patients with known or suspected LSDs seen in all GGC offices (Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, and Greenwood, SC). In addition, the MAPP Fellow will attend weekly general metabolic clinic and other Greenville-area multidisciplinary clinics.

The academic training will build a broad base of knowledge in clinical genetics coordinated with other clinical and laboratory trainees at GGC. The Fellow will attend the Graduate Course (a 19 week, 66.5 hour course), weekly conferences, monthly case reviews, and monthly seminars. The fellow will present at these events regularly. Dr. Rogers and other faculty will provide periodic didactic sessions pertaining specifically to LSD diagnosis and treatment. A rotation in the GGC Biochemical Genetics Laboratory will allow insight into the diagnostic and monitoring studies used in the care of patients with LSDs.

The MAPP Fellow will be exposed to research in the field of LSDs by attending the WORLD Symposium and working with the local site PI for the Sanofi Genzyme Rare Disease Registries and the Hunter Outcome Survey. An original research project is anticipated, with results presented at an annual meeting such as the Southeastern Regional Genetics Group (SERGG).

By the end of the program, the MAPP Fellow will be capable of working with a team of healthcare providers to improve early diagnosis, recognize at-risk relatives, and order laboratory studies, evaluations, and primary therapies that lead to optimal outcomes for patients with lysosomal disorders in SC. GGC would hope to offer full time employment to the individual who successfully completed this training.

Meet our current fellow:

Danielle Bollinger, MSN-NLE, FNP-C

Residency Program Director – Elliot Stolerman, MD

The clinical genetics residency at the Greenwood Genetic Center is designed to provide intensive postgraduate clinical experience with heritable or potentially heritable conditions. Residents are required to have completed a primary care residency program (family practice, internal medicine, OB/GYN or pediatrics) in the United States. Clinical training includes exposure to prenatal, pediatric and adult genetics and counseling (2,500 new families per year). Specifically, the resident will see a wide range of heritable disorders, reviewing the evaluation and management of each patient with their preceptor. The student will learn principles of heredity through conferences, internal graduate courses and clinical experience. Moreover they will study the nature of genetic disorders and their impact on the individual, family, and society.

The writing of case reports and reviews, utilization of genetic literature and the preparation of lectures will be integral parts in the residency learning process. All residents are required to take a core course in Advanced Human Genetics through the Center.

While many heritable disorders have medical impact, the content and focus of the clinical residency at the Greenwood Genetic Center will be weighted toward birth defects and intellectual disability. Comprehensive prenatal, pediatric and adult patient genetic evaluations are provided to the upstate region of South Carolina through offices in Greenwood and Greenville. Experience with individuals and families having intellectual disability will be largely gained through patients of the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs in statewide outreach clinics. Experience in dysmorphology will be obtained in the multiple regional and statewide outreach clinics. Additionally, the resident will have in-patient consults through Self Regional Healthcare and prenatal experience through the Greenville Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program, Greenville and Greenwood Ob/Gyn, to gain experience in prenatal and neonatal diagnostics, and the care and management of genetic disease.

After successful completion of the residency program, the physician resident should be qualified for independent clinical practice in medical genetics or an academic position in clinical genetics. The resident will be prepared to sit for the examination given by the American Board of Medical Genetics for certification as a clinical geneticist.

Lab Rotations: Residents who will pursue the two-year genetic residency tract will arrange three 3-week rotations in each of our diagnostic laboratories: molecular, biochemical, and cytogenetics. The purpose of these rotations is to gain a more complete understanding of the diagnostic and research functions of these laboratories in relation to clinical practice. The student will be expected to meet specific goals and objectives for each laboratory rotation. For those residents choosing the three-year tract, the additional year can be spent as an elective in the research laboratories.

Library Access: The Center’s extensive English language library holdings contain over 1,000 monographs and pertinent genetics textbooks, including rare and historical book collections in the area of birth defects. Over 60 current major Medical and Medical Genetics journals are in circulation as well as a substantial number of back volumes for another 50 titles. The library also provides a comprehensive collection of patient photos, slides, and radiographs from our clinical and research studies. A full-time librarian is on staff to assist in searches and interlibrary loans.

Didactic Teaching: Residents are required to participate in a regular set of conferences and lectures throughout the period of training. In addition, residents have the opportunity to attend other seminars and lectures given through the Center. Required conferences are:

• Weekly Case Conferences – 8:15-9:15 AM, Fridays – Clinical and research presentations
• Advanced Human Genetics Graduate Course
• Statewide Quarterly Genetics Case Review and Seminar – Review of patients seen on consultation; Seminar by faculty member or visiting faculty
• Statewide Genetic Conclaves – Annual scientific and patient presentations

Application Process

Prior to appointment in the program, residents are required to have completed a primary care residency program (family practice, internal medicine, OB/GYN or pediatrics) in the United States. The candidate must also be licensed to practice medicine in the United States. Applications are handled through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) site.

Application to the GGC residency program follows the deadlines of the ERAS site. Interviews are arranged and final decisions will be made as soon as possible.

Greenwood Genetic Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and interested minorities are encouraged to apply.

Director – Laura Pollard, PhD

Candidates with an M.D. or a Ph.D. degree in one of the basic sciences may enter this program. The Laboratory Genetics and Genomics (LGG) fellowship is a three-year program that allows the trainee to gain competence in performing and interpreting cytogenetic analysis relevant to the diagnosis and management of chromosome disorders, as well as in all molecular analyses relevant to the diagnosis of genetic disorders at the gene level. The trainee will also gain research experience by participating in ongoing research projects and by conducting independent research.

Training is conducted through both the Molecular Genetics and Cytogenetics Diagnostic Laboratories of the Greenwood Genetic Center.

The Molecular Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory uses blood, saliva, dried blood spots, amniocytes, and CVS tissue samples for molecular analysis. The trainee will gain expertise in DNA and RNA isolation, PCR, Southern blotting, RFLP analysis, Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA), Pyrosequencing, and DNA sequencing – both Sanger and NextGen (including Whole Exome and Whole Genome Sequencing).

The Cytogenetics Laboratory provides training in routine G-banded analysis, special staining such as C-banding, silver staining, R-banding, and Q-banding, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and array CGH for the diagnosis of microdeletion and microduplication syndromes, the detection of aneuploidy in uncultured cells, and the identification of marker chromosomes.

At the completion of the program, LGG Fellows will possess the skills required for certification by the ABMGG, including competence in:

• Supervising and directing the operations of a clinical cytogenetics and/or molecular genetics diagnostic laboratory, including technical experience and knowledge in quality control and quality assessment procedures.
• Performing a variety of cytogenetic and molecular diagnostic assays;
• Understanding of the heterogeneity, variability, and natural history of chromosome and molecular genetic disorders;
• Diagnostic and interpretive skills in a wide range of clinical molecular genetics and cytogenetics problems.
• Communicating molecular and cytogenetic diagnostic laboratory results in the capacity of a consultant to medical genetics professionals and other clinicians, and directly to patients in concert with other professional staff.

By attending weekly clinic conferences, weekly laboratory conferences, and monthly state-wide case review, the trainee will interact with clinical geneticists, genetic counselors, and others who refer patients for cytogenetic and/or molecular testing. This interaction will allow discussion of pertinent clinical features corresponding with laboratory findings and will permit the opportunity for discussion of counseling issues such as long-term prognosis, family studies, recurrence risks, and additional laboratory testing. In addition, the trainee is required to participate in a core course in Advanced Human Genetics by attending all lectures and by limited teaching responsibilities.

Application Process

Applications for the LGG Fellowship Program are due by August 1 of the year preceding the start date. Applications should include the application form, CV, statement of intent, and three letters of recommendation. Materials should be submitted via email to Leta Tribble, PhD.

Meet our trainees

Nikhil Sahajpal, PhD – LGG Fellow

Jessica Cooley Coleman, PhD – LGG Fellow