People

Robin L Bennett,  M.S., CGC, Sc.D. (Hon), Program Director, University of Washington Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics, University of Washington

Professor Robin Bennett (she/her) founded the UW Genetic Counseling Graduate Program in 2020 after a 35 year career as the senior genetic counselor and co-director of the UW Genetic Medicine Clinic. She has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge of genetic counseling and is most known for her work in pedigree nomenclature, consanguinity, pre-symptomatic testing for Huntington disease and other neurogenetic disoders, recurrent miscarriage, Fabry disease, cancer genetics, and the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Code of Ethics. 

The National Human Genome Research Institute noted her team's 2022 publication "Practice resource-focused revision: Standardized pedigree nomenclature update center on sex and gender inclusivity: A practice resource of the National Society of Genetic Counselors," as an accomplishment in genomic medicine. As a prominent leader in medical genetics and genetic counseling, Robin is the genetic counseling Editor for Genetics in Medicine. 

She served as president of the NSGC, on the board of directors of the American Board of Genetic Counseling, the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling, and the American Society of Human Genetics. Robin is a recepient of multiple honors including the NSGC Natalie Weissberger Paul National Achievement Award and as a distinguished lecturer in the Janus series. At the UW she has been recognized with the Distinguished Staff Award, the Department of Medicine Distinguished Faculty Award, and as one of 75 Changemakers over 75 years.