Carrie Haverty, MS, CGC, on Exploring Genetic Counseling's Growth and Challenges

This interview was originally published on our sister site, NeurologyLive®.

Since beginning her career in high-risk prenatal care with a focus on providing broad access to new diagnostic technologies, genetic counselor Carrie Haverty, MS, CGC, who earned her graduate degree in genetic counseling from the University of California, Irvine, has advanced in the field, eventually earning the role of vice president of product management at Mirvie. At Mirvie, she leads development efforts for the Mirvie RNA platform.

Her direct clinical experience has also informed leading-edge product development and commercialization of technologies at Counsyl, Myriad, and Miroculus. Notably, Havery was elected to become the president of National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) for 2026, after having served on the organization's board of directors. She will be replacing the current president of NSGC, Sara Pirzadeh-Miller, MS, CGC.

Professional advancement and growth of the field; genomics and new technology; and the ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding gene counseling were some of the topics covered at the 44th NSGC Annual Conference, held November 6 to 10 in Seattle, Washington. Haverty delivered an incoming presidential address to the conference's attendees, in which she touched on her path to leadership, highlighted issues and opportunities facing genetic counselors, and shared a vision of her goals and aspirations for NSGC in the coming year. At the conference, CGTLive® interviewed Haverty about today's landscape for genetic counseling and gene therapy.

Haverty spoke about the growth of genetic counseling into a range of specialties, noting that those in the field serve an even bigger role today than they did in the past. Furthermore, she emphasized the necessity of putting patients' needs first, with a focus on empathetic care and increased personalization. Haverty also went over some challenges in the field, drawing attention to patient reimbursement and difficulties patients have navigating the healthcare system. She also touched on the growth of the field and the integration of genetic counselors into multidisciplinary care teams, noting her excitement about these developments.

CGTLive: Are there any highlights from this year’s conference you’d like to share, or is there anything about the conference that you want to explain?

Carrie Haverty, MS, CGC: I've been really excited to be at the conference this year, and there have been a couple of great areas of excitement. The professional issues topics have been wonderful. We had a great professional issues panel with trailblazing genetic counselors who are doing really innovative and interesting things throughout their careers, and that's very relevant for counselors.

Another area that has been really fascinating [is] the expansion of genetic counselors into new specialty areas. There was one on inpatient genetic counselors supporting [individuals] who are near end of life: how we manage stat testing and how we help families and patients through that process, too, which is kind of a new area for genetic counselors to be involved in.

Is there anything in the field of genetic counseling in general that you're excited about right now, whether at the conference or more broadly?

One thing that is super exciting is the increasing expansion of targeted therapeutics and biopharma involvement related to genetic testing and the role that genetic counselors play—not only in informing families about treatment options but also in developing diagnostic tools that help direct the right therapies to the right patient at the right time.

So that idea of genetic counselors being a critical component of precision medicine, not just in oncology, where that's been true for a while, but also in cardiology, many rare pediatric diseases, and other areas—that’s a growing area of interest. Gene therapy is tied into that.

Is there anything specific to gene therapy that you’d like to highlight?

Gene therapy is definitely a growing area. Certainly, something that when I was in graduate school and planning to be a genetic counselor, was science fiction—a hope and dream for the future, but here it is now.

It’s really critical to understand not just the genetic testing and underlying molecular characteristics of the condition that inform the gene therapy but also the benefits and risks. Genetic counselors are well equipped not only to help enroll patients in trials, which is often the most expensive and difficult part of any pharmaceutical or new technology trial, but also to identify those rare patients who are eligible. That leads to the development of therapies.

Then, when therapies are on the market and available, genetic counselors are a critical component of helping patients and families understand the benefits, limitations, and risks so they can have truly informed consent and engagement in their decision-making.

Is there anything related to neurology that you could highlight or discuss, or anything in the field in general?

In general, neurology is an exciting area, with Alzheimer [disease] getting a lot of attention, and for good reason. There are new and exciting treatments on the horizon, and we’re moving beyond just early-onset cases to thinking more broadly about different points of testing, identification, preventive care, treatments, and therapies. That’s something that has broad appeal.

While there have always been genetic counselors working in neurology, that is one area that is expanding, with more and more happening. One thing I’ll highlight specific to the conference: Our late-breaking plenary session is about autism and advocating for patients with autism in the current environment, which is a little bit fraught, always complex, and really important to have the genetic counselor voice as part of that.

Looking ahead, is there anything you’re anticipating or paying close attention to in the field?

There are a lot of things I’m looking forward to as the field continues to evolve. One of the most exciting things—and something I addressed in my incoming president address—is that this is a rapidly growing and rapidly changing field. That’s one of the things that attracted many of us: taking in new technology and integrating it into a patient-centered, empathetic model for delivering care across multiple specialties.

In general, I’m very excited to see genetic counselors integrated into clinics across intensive care units, primary care, cardiology, infectious diseases, in addition to neurology, oncology, pediatrics, and prenatal, where we’ve been for many years. These new specialty areas are growing and expanding.

Broadly, I’m excited to see more genetic testing, counseling, and therapies incorporated across specialties, not just within a small genomics community, but across the entire health care ecosystem. That’s how we get from theoretical, lab-based ideas to real precision medicine that gets the right care to the right patient at the right time, ideally in a preventive setting too.

What are some of the biggest challenges in the field right now?

One of the biggest challenges, and this isn’t unique to genetic counselors, is reimbursement. Genetic counselors are not yet recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as health care providers, so we cannot bill for our services independently. Genetic counseling is a covered benefit under Medicare, but genetic counselors cannot be the ones to provide that service and bill independently.

It’s an inefficient system, and it’s not providing the best care. We’re working hard to change that and will soon be introducing a bill in Congress to get genetic counselors recognized as health care providers who can bill for services. That will make things more efficient and accessible for Medicare beneficiaries.

Likewise, we also have a new CPT code for genetic counseling, 96041, as of this year. There’s always a transition period when new codes come out, and it takes time for payers and health systems to update their processes. Whatever we can do to accelerate that will be better for patients because that directly translates to improved access.

Are there any trends or niches in the field that aren’t getting enough attention?

I think one very new area—and I’m not saying it’s not getting attention, it’s just new—is the growing need for postmortem genetic testing. Right now, when autopsies are done, there may be good reasons to do genetic or genomic testing on the tissue to identify what caused the death, what contributed to it, and then inform family members.

But there isn’t a great system for that right now, and it’s not something pathologists consistently use. Genetic counselors are finding a better path toward being incorporated into that process. It’s a really interesting area to watch, and we have 2 different sessions at this conference on that topic.

Is there anything we didn’t cover that you want to share or anything you’d like our audience to know?

I’m really thrilled to see growing interest from other clinicians in incorporating genetic counselors into their care teams. The name of the game is multidisciplinary approaches. It’s harder and harder for any of us to do clinical care without involving other specialists, and genetic counselors are a key part of that. It’s great to see more [providers] adding genetic counselors to specialty clinics like nephrology, pathology, and others. I want to see more of that.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Click here to view more coverage of the 2025 NSGC Annual Conference.