- With Mayo Clinic genetic counselor
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
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Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
"We must begin now to prepare for the future; we cannot wait until the details are known or fully understood."*
— David B. Schowalter, M.D., Ph.D., former Mayo geneticist, (*posthumous)
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C., is a board-certified genetic counselor who specializes in hereditary cancer syndromes. One of her main professional interests is the family medical history.
"Recognizing features in the family history which may suggest an underlying single gene disorder can have a huge impact on families," she says. "Identifying a genetic susceptibility gene can allow family members to more accurately understand their risk of disease and empower those who have an increased genetic susceptibility to take control of their medical management and lifestyle factors which may influence this risk."
She received her B.S. in biology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2002 and M.S. in genetic counseling from the University of Minnesota in 2004.
She was a clinical genetic counselor at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., before joining Mayo Clinic in August 2006 as a genetic counselor and educator for the grant-funded Mayo Eisenberg Genomics Education Program. During her time in Wisconsin, she was also an active member of the metabolic subcommittee of the state Newborn Screening Program and co-facilitated a phenylketonuria clinic.
At Mayo Clinic, she provides physician and staff education about clinically relevant topics in genomics. She also manages multiple education projects championed by Mayo Clinic physicians and is a faculty member for Mayo Medical School. In addition to her education roles, she sees adult patients in the Department of Medical Genetics.
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Genetics blog
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Oct. 4, 2008
Welcome to the genetics blog
By Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
Welcome to MayoClinic.com's new Genetics blog! I am excited to be able to facilitate this online discussion.
I can recall many professional lectures I attended which indicated that "genetics knowledge was coming at us like a freight train." Well, if that's true, then the freight train is moving faster than ever. Within the past week or so, I have read three popular press articles about DNA, individualized medicine and genetic testing — without even seeking them out. These were things that I randomly came across as I was reading the morning newspaper and while sitting in my local hair salon. The excitement about genetics is certainly surrounding us.
My training in genetics has focused on a traditional approach of single-gene inheritance, single genes which are passed on in families and either increase a person's susceptibility to disease or cause disease directly. However, these things only affect a minority of people. For example, although approximately 10 percent of individuals with cancer have an underlying strong genetic susceptibility to the disease, the majority of it occurs due to a combination of mild-to-moderate genetic susceptibility and environmental factors; we call this multifactorial inheritance.
Genetics today is taking a much broader look at disease and realizing that we need to identify these milder genetic factors to help you better understand your risk for common conditions (heart disease, diabetes, cancer) so that you may get appropriate screening, preventative treatment and be encouraged to lead a lifestyle that deters disease.
There are many genetic tests now available through genetics professionals, and even online, that offer an ability to help predict your risk of disease. I want to hear your thoughts on this. In my mind, this possibility is littered with challenging issues about how we will adapt as a society to "individualized medicine." Do you want to know your future risks? Will this knowledge encourage a healthier lifestyle? Will it increase health care costs? And, because the technology is so new, are the predictions even valid?
Again, I am truly excited to be navigating this discussion with you. My hope is that our discussions will not only benefit you, but also the medical community. I look forward to hearing from you.
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