President
Sarah Jurgensmeyer, MS, CGC president@illinoisgenetics.org 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 has a clinical interest on Williams syndrome, aortopathies, and general genetics. In addition to her clinical 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 prior to serving as President. She was the recipient of the 2023 ACMG Foundation Carolyn Mills Lovell Genetic Counselor Award and is passionate about expansion of genetic services to more patient populations. |
Secretary
Jelena Ivanisevic, MS, CGC secretary@illinoisgenetics.org Jelena earned her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University and was certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling in 2021. Jelena is a genetic counselor in the Division of Neurology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She has a special interest in neurogenetics and epilepsy. Jelena is an Instructor of Pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a faculty member for Northwestern's Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling. She is also a member of ISGP's Symposium planning committee and NORD's Medical Professional Education work group. | Treasurer
Jessica Dowling, MS, CGC treasurer@illinoisgenetics.org
Jessica received her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Kean University in New Jersey in 2022. She is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. She works in the Cancer Institute at the Advocate Christ Medical Center. In her role, she counsels individuals with a personal and/or family history of cancer and is involved in the center’s Hereditary Cancer Clinic, High-Risk Breast Cancer Clinic, and Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic. Outside of her clinical role, she has an interest in Point-of-Care genetic testing in oncology, precision medicine, education, and research. Jessica is also a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) and the ISGP Membership Committee. |
Immediate Past-President
Rikki Gaber Caffrey, MA, MS, CGC 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. | President-Elect
Alyssa Valentine, MS, CGC Alyssa Valentine received her master's degree in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University in 2021 and was certified by the ABGC in the same year. Alyssa currently works as a cancer and cardiovascular genetic counselor at Cook County Health, Chicago’s safety net hospital, which serves a racially and ethnically diverse patient population that is predominantly under or uninsured. Alyssa is also actively involved with the Northwestern Genetic Counseling Program. She is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) and the Illinois Society of Genetics Professionals (ISGP). Alyssa served as the ISGP Advocacy Committee chair in 2023. Her advocacy work with ISGP has been focused on increasing protections against genetic discrimination, getting genetic counselors recognized as providers with Illinois Medicaid, and improving the genetic counseling licensure process. |
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Board Member At Large
Madison (Hankins) Benedict, MS, CGC Madison (Madi) received her Master of Genetic Counseling Studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and was certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling in 2020. She is a clinical genetic counselor in the Division of Genetics at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Currently she serves as the Neurofibromatosis Clinic Coordinator. Madi is 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. She is also a member of ISGP's Membership Committee. | Board Member At Large
Ismam Islam, MS, CGC Ismam received his Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University and was board certified by ABGC in 2020. He is a genetic counselor within the Genomics Medicine department at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He specializes in cancer genetics and reproductive health genetics. In addition to his clinical roles, Ismam is the Student Development Coordinator for the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling. He is also a member of ISGP’s Membership Committee. |
