Speaker Profile
MS, LGC, Associate Director, Division of Human Genetics; Associate Director, Biospecimen Research; Professor, Licensed Genetic Counselor, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC)
Biography
Heather Hampel is an internationally-recognized cancer genetic counselor with a particular emphasis on universal tumor screening of all colorectal (CRC) and endometrial cancer patients for Lynch syndrome. This work changed the standard-of-care genetic screening practices in CRC patients. Heather is the PI of the Ohio Colorectal Cancer Prevention Initiative (OCCPI). OCCPI is a multi-center study (50 hospitals) which provides universal tumor screening for Lynch syndrome and other hereditary cancer syndromes, genetic counseling and testing for at-risk family members, and technology-driven interventions to improve adherence to CRC screening. OCCPI just demonstrated that 16% of early-onset CRC patients have a hereditary cancer syndrome. Heather Hampel was on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Genetic Counseling from 2006-2011, serving as President in 2009 and 2010. She is President-elect of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer and a Steering Committee member of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable.