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Melanie F. Myers, PhD

Director, Genetic Counseling Graduate Program

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Phone: 513-636-8448

Email: melanie.myers@cchmc.org

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Specialties

Evaluating family health history as a health promotion and disease prevention tool; direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic testing; and outcomes research in genetic counseling

Biography

Melanie Myers, PhD directs the Cincinnati Genetic Counseling Graduate Program. Genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. Students are trained to interpret family and medical histories to assess the chance of disease occurrence or recurrence, provide education about inheritance, testing, management, prevention, resources and research and counseling patients to promote informed choices and adaptation to the risk or condition.

Dr. Myers has a background in genetic counseling, public health genomics, and applied epidemiology. Prior to joining the Cincinnati Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, Dr. Myers worked in the Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Public Health Geneticist. While there, she led a multi-state investigation to monitor the impact of the first direct-to-consumer marketing campaign for genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility (BRCA1/2). This was the first coordinated public health response to the introduction of a complex genetic test to the general public.

Dr. Myers also served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in the National Center of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC. As an EIS Officer, she participated on several outbreak response teams, including STOP (Stop Transmission of Polio) Team 9 in Bangladesh, the New York City Anthrax Team, the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack Response Team, the Dengue Fever Outbreak Response team in Maui and Kawaii, Hawaii, and the West Nile Virus Response Team in Long Island, NY.

Education and Training

MS: Genetic Counseling, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 1990-1992.

PhD: The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 1995-2000.

Fellowship: Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000-2002.

Certification: Genetic Counseling, 1993.

Publications

View PubMed Publications

Au MG, Cornett SJ, Nick TG, Wallace J, Wang Y, Warren NS, Myers MF. Familial risk for chronic disease and intent to share family history with a health care provider among urban Appalachian women, southwestern Ohio, 2007. Prev Chronic Dis. 2010 Jan;7(1):A07.

Fuller M, Myers MF, Webb T, Tabangin M, Prows C. Primary Care Providers' Responses to Patient-Generated Family History. J Genet Couns. 2010 19:84-96.

Cragun RT, Woltanski AR, Myers, MF, Cragun DL. Genetic counselors' religiosity & spirituality: Are genetic counselors different from the general population? J Genet Couns. 2009 18:551–566.

Cree RA, Lynch J, Au MG, Myers MF. Decisions to seek healthcare based on family health history among urban Appalachian women. J Genet Couns. 2009 Dec;18(6):534-50.

Bowen DJ, Harris J, Jorgensen CM, Myers MF, Kuniyuki A. Socioeconomic influences on the effects of a genetic testing Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Campaign. Public Health Genomics. 2009 13:131-142.

Wallace JP, Baugh C, Cornett S, Hood B, Prows CA, Ryan N, Warren NS, Au MG, Brown MK, Glandorf K, Jarrell JL, Nolan TL, Sorrell J, Walters J, Myers MF. A Family History Demonstration Project among Women in an Urban Appalachian Community. Progress in Community Health Partnerships. 2009 3(2):155-164.

Woltanski AR, Cragun RT. Myers MF, Cragun DL. Views on Abortion: A Comparison of Female Genetic Counselors and Women from the General Population. J Genet Couns. 2009 18(1):28-41.

Bowling, BV, Huether CA, Wang L, Myers MF, Markle GC, Dean GE, Acra EE, Wray FP, Jacob GA. Genetic Literacy of Undergraduate Non-Science Majors and the Impact of Introductory Biology and Genetics Courses. BioScience. 2008 58(7):654-660.

Bowling BV, Acra EE, Wang L, Myers MF, Dean GE, Markle GC, Moskalik CL, Huether CA. Development and evaluation of a genetics literacy assessment instrument for undergraduates. Genetics. 2008 Jan;178(1):15-22.

Wallace JP, Myers MF, Huether CA, Bedard AC, Warren NS. Employability of genetic counselors with a PhD in genetic counseling. J Genet Couns. 2008 Jun;17(3):209-19.