Faculty, Students & Alumni

Meet Our Team

Alexis Burian

Lexi grew up in a small, rural town outside of Albany, NY and graduated from Ithaca College in 2020 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in counseling. Since then, Lexi has been living in Buffalo and has held roles in the mental health and education field. Growing up an hour south of the Adirondacks, Lexi always loved to go hiking, camping, white water rafting, and all other outdoor activities in the summer months. In the winter, she takes to cozy armchairs to read fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as to snuggle with her pup. Day to day, Lexi loves to garden, try new restaurants and be creative in her own kitchen!

Kristen Connors

Kristen grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and graduated from James Madison University in 2020 with an Independent Scholars degree in Biomedical Illustration and Inequality in the Biological Sciences. She was able to combine a love for self expression through drawing and painting, with a deep interest in biology and reflecting on how learners process new information visually. While at JMU, she cultivated her passion for teaching in different settings, becoming a yoga instructor and later manager of her university’s recreation center, General and Organic Chemistry Course study session leader, and coordinator & amp; facilitator of the Alternative Spring Break Program, where she facilitated dialogues and trainings to prepare leaders to design and carry out impactful community service experiences that centered cultural humility during active service-learning. She also interned with Samaritans Crisis Hotline and continues to volunteer with them. In her senior year at JMU, she was able to present capstone research on the efficacy of a pilot transfer student Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience, a modified bacteriophage discovery course, as an intervention on the sennse of belonging & amp; enculturation of transfer students that were entering the Biology program from two-year colleges. After graduating from JMU, Kristen moved to Madrid, Spain, to pursue a Master’s in Bilingual and Multicultural Education from the University of Alcalá, and work as a language assistant at a local secondary school. During her time in Spain, she loved the opportunities to travel, spend afternoons at Retiro Park painting and laughing with friends, and take Spanish classes at a nearby langugage school. In her free time, Kristen loves to draw, paint or woodburn, stay active and outdoors, and try every boba tea shop in the city!

Maya Del Rosario

Maya grew up in New Paltz, a small college town in upstate New York. She graduated in 2020 from Skidmore College with a degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. At Skidmore, she pursued research in both cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, as well as social psychology. After graduating, she moved to Boston to work as a clinical research assistant for two geneticists at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is currently working on research projects like BabySeq 2, eMERGE IV, The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, and infant mortality studies that involve parent interviewing, both in the NICU and virtually. In her free time, she loves cooking (and more importantly eating), hiking, reading, drawing, and attending local trivia nights.

Melissa Fernandes

Melissa grew up in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, a small town in northern New Jersey. She moved to Boston to attend Northeastern University and graduated in 2019 with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience. As an undergraduate, Melissa completed an internship as a day program instructor helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities develop their independent living skills. She then joined a molecular genetics core lab where she discovered her passion for genetics while assisting with gene discovery research for early-onset psychosis. Since graduating, Melissa has been working with and supporting patients and families with rare genetic conditions as a clinical research assistant at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her experiences serving those in need and working in clinical research while interacting with genetic counselors made her realize that a career in genetic counseling was a great fit. In her free time, Melissa enjoys shopping, traveling, swimming, bike riding, and watching sci-fi and comedy drama shows.

Abigail Gregg

Abigail Gregg graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2018 with a bachelors in biology and a minor in entrepreneurship. During her undergrad, she completed an internship at a GI research laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. She moved back to Boston full time in early 2019 to work in the same research lab, where she serves as the laboratory coordinator. In her free time, she is the lead vocalist in a Boston-based jazz band called Midnight Motion. She also recently started playing tennis again after coaching youth aged 10 and under for 5 years. Genetic counseling sparked her interest when discovering that it is a patient-centered and advocacy-focused career path and she is thrilled to be a part of the BUGCP class of 2024!

Alison MacLeod

Alison (Ali) is originally from Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from University of California – Santa Barbara in 2017 with a B.S. in Pharmacology and a minor in Professional Science Communication. While at UCSB, she was involved in age-related macular degeneration research that aimed to better understand the various ways light-sensitive cells in the eye degrade and investigate restorative methods to preserve/improve vision. She also gained counseling experience by interning with the Community Helpline. After college, she accepted a Genetic Counseling Assistant job at the Cleveland Clinic where she supported the cardiovascular, pharmacogenomics, prenatal, and ophthalmic teams. When she’s not in the office, Ali enjoys exercising, fostering dogs, surfing, and sampling the restaurants and bars that make up Cleveland’s social scene.

Cassandra Mayer

Cassie grew up in Vermont, where she learned to love animals, hiking, and maple syrup. She graduated from Cornell University in 2017 with a B.A. in Biological Sciences, a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and an appreciation for wine from the Finger Lakes. After graduating, she moved to California and has been in the genetics industry since – first at Blueprint Genetics, and then at Invitae. When Cassie has the time, she likes to quilt, knit, or read with a cup of tea in hand. She also loves petting dogs, colorful autumn leaves, and waffles.

Ashana Neale

Ashana is originally from St. Catherine, Jamaica. She has spent a significant portion of her life in New York City. In 2020, she graduated from Marist College with a B.S. in Biomedical Science. At Marist, Ashana was the Resident Assistant for her college’s Multicultural Housing. After graduating, she was a cancer genetic counseling assistant and a psychosocial rehabilitation worker. She was also an intern for a project geared toward spreading awareness about Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer within the Black community. Her love for music led Ashana to partake in many creative outlets, such as singing and theatre. She enjoys finding ways to use what she loves to convey a message and spark an emotion in someone else. In her free time, you can catch her immersed in a book or seeking new experiences/places. Ashana loves going to the beach (or any warm place), visiting museums, discovering hidden gems, and so much more!

Cassandra Oeckinghaus

Cassandra was born and raised in Califon, New Jersey and attended Florida State University where she obtained her degree in Psychology. There Cassie took part in the First Year Abroad Program where she got to spend her first 12 months of college in Spain and Italy! During and after college, Cassie volunteered at 211 Big Bend where she was crisis hotline counseling for Helpline 211 and the National Suicide Prevention Line. She then went on to become a training assistant to help prepare future counselors to answer the phones. After graduating, Cassie became a medical assistant and spent time in cardiology and endocrinology clinics before switching gears and becoming a residential counselor at a 24-hour group home for men with schizophrenia. In her free time Cassie loves to read, spent time with loved ones, be outdoors, travel, and spend time with her two cats.

Adriana Sanchez

Adriana was born in New York City and grew up in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Adriana returned to New York City and graduated in January 2021 from the City College of New York, where she majored in Biology and minored in Studio Art. During undergrad, she volunteered as a reading partner for children in grades K-5, assisted children with disabilities during their therapeutic horsemanship lessons, and was a Crisis Counselor for Crisis Text Line. After graduating, Adriana trained as an English/Spanish Medical Interpreter, was a Research Assistant intern for a genetic counseling graduate student, and worked with children with cognitive and developmental disabilities as a Community Habilitation Specialist & Respite Provider. Adriana has always been passionate about nature and art, so she loves botanical illustration and birdwatching.

Jaime Schechner

Jaime is originally from Lexington, MA but lived in Atlanta, GA for five years prior to moving back North. She graduated from Emory University in 2021 with a degree in Neuroscience, Behavioral Biology, and Sociology. At Emory, Jaime conducted clinical research that investigated the genetic and social factors that contribute to the increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease within minority populations. After graduating, Jaime worked as a genetic counseling/research assistant at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in their pediatric neurology department. She is thrilled to be back home in Boston and get reacclimated with the city (although she is dreading the cold weather). In her free time, Jaime enjoys kickboxing, hiking, binging the latest hit show on Netflix, and spending time with her friends and family.

Gwendolyn Strickland

Gwen is from Southbury, Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in physiology and neurobiology in 2021. After school, she worked as a research assistant at Yale University studying the molecular mechanisms of hair follicle growth and regeneration. She also volunteered with a sexual assault center as a crisis counselor (and still does!) and enjoyed coaching her town’s swim team. During her free time, Gwen enjoys traveling, swimming, hiking, baking, and trying new foods!

Emma Van Hook

Emma hails from the Washington, DC area and has spent over a decade working in public policy and government affairs on behalf of the life sciences industry, pushing for reforms that ensure patient access to health/tech innovations and efficient, rigorous pathways for research and development. Through this work she collaborated closely with the patient, provider, and scientific advocacy community in advancing shared priorities. Emma is passionate about issues impacting personalized medicine, oncology, and rare diseases, which lead her to genetic counseling. She is eager to learn and grow into this impactful field that helps patients and their families as they navigate complex and personal health care decisions. Emma loves the great outdoors and recently became a Virginia Master Naturalist, where she volunteers in educational activities and helps maintain local parks. She especially enjoys birding and hiking. In her free time you may find her running, eating ice cream, or watching Hokie football. Emma received her BS in Biology from Virginia Tech and an MS in Biotechnology from Georgetown University.