Oct. 9, 2026

Genetic Counseling with Dr. Krista Redlinger-Grosse & Ellory Lopez

Show Notes

Stan and Clarence chat with Dr. Krista Redlinger-Grosse and Ellory Lopez about Genetic Counseling. Together, they explore the field of genetic counseling and its role in helping individuals and families understand genetic information, risks, and diagnoses.

Dr. Krista Redlinger-Grosse – Faculty member with the University of Minnesota Genetic Counseling Training Program – earned her master’s degree in genetic counseling from the Johns Hopkins University/National Institutes of Health Genetic Counseling Training Program and her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She teaches psychosocial skills and theory, advises students, and directs fieldwork and supervisory training. Krista also maintains a private practice supporting individuals and families impacted by genetic information, risks, and diagnoses. Her work focuses on integrating genetic counseling and psychology through clinical practice, education, and research.

Ellory Lopez – Board-Certified Clinical Genetic Counselor at Fairview – earned her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of Minnesota. She specializes in helping patients and families navigate genetic conditions by making complex genetic information understandable, actionable, and compassionate. In addition to her clinical work, Ellory educates future genetic counselors and serves as co-chair of the Minnesota Genetic Counseling Association’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.

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Research

Genetic Counseling - Genetic counseling gives you information about how genetic conditions might affect you or your family.

A genetic counselor might provide information about how a genetic condition could affect an individual or family and/or interpret genetic tests designed to help estimate the risk of a disease.
The genetic counselor conveys information to address the concerns of the individual or family, helps them make an informed decision about their medical situation and provides psychological counseling to help them adapt to their condition or risk.

Reasons for genetic counseling

Planning for pregnancy - Genetic counseling before you become pregnant can address concerns about factors that might affect your baby during infancy or childhood, or your ability to become pregnant, including

Genetic conditions that run in your family or your partner's family
History of infertility, multiple miscarriages, or stillbirth
Previous pregnancy or child affected by a birth defect or genetic condition
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) options

During pregnancy - Genetic counseling while you are pregnant can address certain tests that may be done during your pregnancy, any detected problems, or conditions that might affect your baby during infancy or childhood, including
History of infertility, multiple miscarriages, or stillbirth
Previous pregnancy or child affected by a birth defect or genetic condition
Abnormal test results, such as a blood test, ultrasound, chorionic villus sampling (CVS), or amniocentesis
Maternal infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), and other exposures such as medicines, drugs, chemicals, and x-rays
Genetic screening that is recommended for all pregnant women, which includes cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, and any conditions that run in your family or your partner's family

Childhood - Genetic counseling can address concerns if your child is showing signs and symptoms of a disorder that might be genetic, including

Disorders identified through newborn screening
Birth defects
Autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disabilities
Vision or hearing problems

Adulthood - Genetic counseling can be helpful if you have symptoms of a condition or have a family history of a condition that makes you more likely to be affected with that condition, including

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome
Lynch syndrome (hereditary colorectal and other cancers)
Familial hypercholesterolemia
Muscular dystrophy and other muscle diseases
Inherited movement disorders such as Huntington's disease
Inherited blood disorders such as sickle cell disease

Genetic Testing - Communication/Results

Genetic counselors are increasingly essential in helping patients navigate the emotional and practical complexities of genetic testing.
Psychologists are working alongside physicians and genetic counselors to develop tools and strategies that make genetic risk communication clearer and more human centered.
As genetic testing expands in diagnosis and prevention, psychologists will be critical to addressing the long-term mental health impacts of learning one’s genetic risk.

Data from the NIH Genetic Testing Registry show that the different types of genetic tests available rose from 1,081 in 2012 to 6,214 in 2022 globally, while in the United States, the available types of tests increased from 607 to 3,097 over the same period.

Genetic counselors receive psychology-based training to support patients around risk and testing, but most are not trained for long-term therapy.
Psychologists can provide deeper mental health care and research-based tools that can strengthen how patients are supported before, during, and after testing, making collaboration between the two essential for helping patients with genetic risk.
It is important that health care systems create the conditions so that professionals communicating genetic results have access to training and strategies for cultural sensitivity, recognizing that patients from different backgrounds may have distinct concerns

Consumer Genetic Testing - In the two decades since the founding of 23andMe in 2006, it is estimated that up to 50 million people worldwide have purchased direct‐to‐consumer genetic tests (henceforth DTC‐GTs) to learn about everything from health‐related information to athletic ability, nutrigenetics, and ancestry

23AndMe, My Heritage, Ancestry
DTC‐GT is also more accessible than clinical genetic testing.

Not only is it cheaper, DTC‐GT can be ordered online without a medical consultation and samples can be collected at home using saliva kits.
Tests may not meet local regulatory standards for scientific/clinical validity, clinical utility, privacy protections, and/or medical oversight.
DTC‐GT results are typically returned directly to the consumer without interpretation from a health professional, raising concerns around informed consent and the potential for adverse medical or psychological consequences from unexpected, misinterpreted and/or overinterpreted results
Consumers are often provided an opportunity to upload their raw data for third‐party interpretation websites for further analysis , which may have a false‐positive rate of up to 40%, exacerbating the potential for misunderstanding and stress

References

https://www.cdc.gov/genomics-and-health/counseling-testing/genetic-counseling.html

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/06/genetic-testing-patient-care-collaboration

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Genetic-Counseling

https://blogs.cdc.gov/genomics/2018/06/12/consumer-genetic-testing/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13066775/

National Society of Genetic Counselors: About Genetic Counselors

Minnesota Genetic Counselors Association: About Genetic Counseling