#189 Building Inclusive Pedigrees with Phenotips

To celebrate Pride month our next two episodes will be focused on the LGBTQIA+ community. In this episode we explore building inclusive pedigrees with Dr. Orion Buske and Erica Peacock of Phenotips.

The PhenopTips name might seem familiar as our host, Kira Dineen, is also the host of the PhenoTips Speaker Series, which is a live webinar about genetic topics (including a live Q&A), then it’s released as a podcast. Watch previous Speaker Series here, or search “PhenoTips Speaker Series” where you get your podcasts to listen!

As a queer member of the LGBTQIA+ community, our host Kira Dineen is so excited to talk about building inclusive software for genetic counseling in this episode, especially in the spirit of Pride month! Next week we are sharing the recording of yesterday’s June Installment of PhenoTips Speaker series, which pairs very nicely with this conversation as it’s about improving gender-affirming care in genetic counseling and features two fellow genetic counselors and patient advocate! 

Dr. Orion Buske is the CEO of Phenotips. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, where he specialized in algorithms for genome analysis and rare disease patient matchmaking. He co-leads the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health Pedigree standard working group.

Erica Peacock is the genetics workflow consultant at PhenoTips. She holds an MSc in Genetic Counselling from the University of British Columbia, and she is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. 

On This Episode We Discuss:

Why it’s important to denote someone’s sex assigned at birth

Incorporate same sex couples utilizing a donor or donors to concieve in pedigrees

Best ways to indicate that someone is transgender on pedigrees

Representing gender non-conforming or non-binary people on pedigrees

Making note of family members’s pronouns 

PhenoTips features to support genetics professionals and the LGBTQIA+ community 

How pre-visit questionnaire aids with time saving accurate pedigrees 

Check out the GH4GH that Orion mentioned during the interview, including those meeting notes. Be sure to follow PhenoTips on Twitter, Facebook. We also recommend following Orion Buske and Erica Peacock on Twitter. 

Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on June 24, 2022 where we’ll be dropping an installment of the PhenoTips Speaker Series! The topic of this week’s series is building gender affirming care in genetic counseling! New episodes are released on Fridays. In the meantime, you can binge over 185 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel.  

DNA Today is hosted and produced by Kira Dineen. Our social media lead is Corinne Merlino. Our video lead is Amanda Andreoli. 

See what else we are up to on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and our website, DNApodcast.com. Questions/inquiries can be sent to info@DNApodcast.com. 

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In my free time during the summer I am usually with friends at our apartment’s pool. My spot is right next to the water reading a book, most recently “A Crack In Creation”, which might come up in a future episode. I like keeping cool by sipping on some ice tea while I read, but I don’t like all the sugar. So I’ve been enjoying Sound drinks instead. Sound makes unsweetened, organic sparkling waters made with tea and botanicals. No natural flavors or sugar. My fav is the blueberry with cinnamon and hibiscus tea. Try it out by ordering at DrinkSound.com using promo code DNATODAY for 20% off! Plus you are supporting the podcast. (SPONSORED)

A bunch of my friends at my apartment have dogs and I love being able to offer them a treat when I take them for a walk or when they visit my place. So I got Sundays for Dogs. Now this is dog food, but can also be used as dog treats. My friend Annie’s dog, Frank, gets so excited when he sees me, and if I’m being honest, I think it’s more the food than me. Sundays For Dogs is real food formulated by a Vet with high quality meat, veggies, fruit and superfoods, then air-dried to perfection. Since you are a DNA Today listener, you can visit SundaysForDogs.com and use code “DNATODAY” for 35% off your first order. Support your pup and the podcast! (SPONSORED)