Primary Faculty

Rachael Bradshaw, MS, CGC
Program Director

GC with a passion for fetal care, teaching, and DEI initiatives. Cooking enthusiast enjoying life with her son and husband in the city she loves.

Meet Rachael

Rachael Bradshaw graduated from the University of Cincinnati with her MS in Genetic Counseling in 2004. She has been working as a prenatal genetic counselor in St. Louis since her graduation, first at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) and later at Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine. She is an Associate Professor at SLU and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at WUSM. During her early career as a general prenatal counselor, Rachael helped develop telehealth genetic counseling services and implemented up-to-date genetic diagnostic and screening protocols for the healthcare systems in which she worked. She has a passion for the field of Fetal Care and Intervention, and currently focuses her clinical work at the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. She loves the interdisciplinary nature of caring for complex pregnancies. In partnership with a colleague, she has repeatedly secured grants to fund post-mortem genetic testing for families who experience fetal and neonatal losses, providing crucial answers to many families in the area.

Rachael is also passionate about education. She routinely provides education to medical students, residents, fellows, and attending physicians on a variety of topics related to prenatal genetics, fetal care, and other areas of expertise. She long held the goal of establishing and helping lead a genetic counseling graduate training program, and she is thrilled to serve as Program Director for the Program in Genetic Counseling at WUSM. Within the program she directs or co-directs Introduction to Genetic Counseling I & II, Advanced Genetic Counseling I & II, and Teratology. She is also primarily responsible for many program operations including those related to admissions and curriculum development.

Rachael is committed to issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as they relate both genetic counseling training and the profession. She is also dedicated to addressing racial health disparities. Since 2012 she has served as Co-Leader of the Fetal & Infant Mortality Review through the community organization, Generate Health, which is dedicated to achieving zero racial disparities in infant mortality in the St. Louis region. She has been the Co-Chair of the Education Committee of the Genetic Counselor Educators Association (GCEA) since 2022 and served on the GCEA DEI Selection Committee. She has also been an Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling Program Review Committee member since 2015. Finally, Rachael is a 2020 graduate of WUSM’s Academic Medical Leadership Development Program for Physicians and Scientists.

In her spare time, Rachael enjoys living in the heart of St. Louis city with her husband and teenage son. She loves to cook with the ingredients her husband, a sustainable gardener, and her chickens provide. She also enjoys baking with her son, a budding amateur pastry chef. She loves reading, spending time with friends and family, biking, camping, watching escapist TV, and following her favorite content creators on YouTube.

Course(s)
  • Introduction to Genetic Counseling I
  • Introduction to Genetic Counseling II
  • Advanced Genetic Counseling I         
  • Advanced Genetic Counseling II        
  • Teratology

Tomi L. Toler, MS, CGC
Associate Director

Passion for teaching and clinical supervision of GCs and other medical genetics learners. Mom of one adorable son.

Meet Tomi

Tomi Toler graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with her MS in Genetic Counseling in 2009 and from the University of Missouri-Columbia with her BA in 2007.

From 2009-2015, Tomi worked in Boston; first at Brigham & Women’s Hospital as a prenatal genetic counselor and then at Massachusetts General Hospital as a pediatric genetic counselor and Program Coordinator for the Down Syndrome Program. Since 2015, Tomi has worked at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WUSM) as a pediatric and general genetics genetic counselor in the Division of Genetics & Genomic Medicine, serving as the Lead Genetic Counselor since 2018. Tomi was an Instructor in Pediatrics from 2019-2022 and was promoted to Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in 2022. During her time at WUSM, she has been involved in multiple research studies, including the Washington University in St. Louis Clinical Site of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, and teaching of residents and fellows in the Genetics Training Programs.

Tomi has a special interest in education in health care. Tomi was inducted as a 2023 member of the Academy of Educators at Washington University School of Medicine. She is currently on the Steering Committee for the Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Washington University Medical Campus (CIPE) and received her Master Interprofessional Educator certificate in May 2022.

Tomi is particularly passionate about helping genetic counseling students and early career genetic counselors develop their clinical skills. During her time in Boston, Tomi provided clinical supervision to many genetic counseling graduate students from the Brandeis and Boston University Genetic Counseling Programs. Since moving to St. Louis, she has supervised clinical rotations for several visiting students from multiple genetic counseling programs. She is very excited to be translating this experience and enthusiasm for clinical training to her role as the program’s Associate Director and Clinical Fieldwork Coordinator.

In addition to her interest in working with genetic counseling students, Tomi has an interest in promoting the genetic counseling profession both clinically and in research including public health genetics and genomics. Tomi has been and remains involved in national committees with both NSGC and ABGC.

Tomi enjoys living in St. Louis and visiting the zoo and other kid-friendly places with her son, Max.

Course(s)
  • Introduction to Genetic Counseling I
  • Introduction to Genetic Counseling II
  • Advanced Genetic Counseling I         
  • Advanced Genetic Counseling II        
  • Clinical Genetics & Genomics I
  • Clinical Genetics & Genomics II
  • Clinical Rotations I
  • Clinical Rotations II
  • Clinical Rotations III

Erin Linnenbringer, PhD, MS, CGC
Assistant Director

Interdisciplinary population health researcher with the heart and mind of a GC. Runner/baker/reader. Mom of 2 kids. Co-resident with 2 cats.

Meet Erin

Erin Linnenbringer’s interest in genetic counseling research took flight while she was a Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award fellow in the Medical Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute. She went on to complete her MS in Genetic Counseling at Northwestern University in 2003 and started her career as a genetic counselor and research project manager for the Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer’s Disease (REVEAL) study at Boston University. While at BU, Erin was involved in the development of their genetic counseling training program, serving as the inaugural coordinator and lead instructor for the Genetic Counseling Research Seminar Series.

Erin’s passion for research lead her to pursue a PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan where she continued to work on the REVEAL Study before transitioning to a predoctoral fellowship at the Population Studies Center. As part of this transition, Erin’s research focus shifted to explorations of how racially stratified social environments may “get under the skin” and shape disparities in breast cancer subtypes. While completing her dissertation, Erin received the Richard Janz Memorial Fund Award from the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and support from the Population Studies Center’s New Initiatives Fund.

Upon completion of her PhD in 2014, Erin joined the faculty of the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine and she was promoted to an Associate Professor of Surgery in 2022. Her research explores the complex interplay among social, behavioral, and genetic factors, and their subsequent implications for population health and health disparities. Erin is also developing new lines of research that will examine the impact of emerging precision medicine & genetic counseling approaches on the health and well-being of medically underserved populations. She is thrilled to serve as Assistant Director and Research Coordinator for the program, and looks forward to involving genetic counseling students in her research. More information about Erin’s research activities can be found on her faculty website.

Erin is an active member of the NSGC having served in leadership positions for regional conferences and national short courses prior to obtaining her PhD. From 2016-2021, she served on the Jane Engelberg Memorial Fellowship Advisory Group which supports the professional development of genetic counselors and students via research grant funding. Reflecting her public health training and clinical interests, Erin is also a member of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science and the American Association for Cancer Research.  

In her free time, Erin enjoys running in Forest Park, baking cakes (but not cookies!), reading & discussing literary fiction, and in normal times, travelling with her husband and two children.

Course(s)
  • Genetic Counseling Research Design & Ethics
  • Research Project I
  • Research Project II
  • Research Project III

Marwan Shinawi, MD, FACMG
Medical Director

Geneticist with special interest in training all medical genetics learners. Clinical interests include disease gene discovery. Avid traveler and culinary enthusiast.

Meet Marwan

Marwan Shinawi completed his training in medical genetics and medical biochemical genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX in 2005. Marwan served as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor from 2005 through 2009. He then joined the Division of Genetics & Genomic Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in September 2009 as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2012 and to a Full Professor in 2016.

Marwan is Board certified in Medical Genetics and Medical Biochemical Genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. He has interest in genomic medicine, disease gene discovery, metabolic disorders and skeletal dysplasia. Marwan played a leadership role in establishing several specialty clinics including the Skeletal Dysplasia, Exome Sequencing, and Cancer Predisposition Clinics.

He is the program director of the Combined Pediatrics Genetics Residency and Medical Biochemical Genetics Fellowship Programs at WUSM. He is heavily involved in didactic teaching at WUSM. He has a passion for teaching and training students, residents and fellows. He is excited to act as Medical Director for the Program in Genetic Counseling.

Marwan is a co-director of the Human Genomic Characterization Unit at Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). Through the years, Marwan has expanded his experience to conduct basic and clinical human genetics research and established an extensive collaborative network with several scientists in the field of human genomics. His research focuses on clinical genomics and the application of exome and genome sequencing as well as microarray analysis for disease gene discovery of undiagnosed genetic syndromes. With his clinical and laboratory research experiences, he has been a primary author on many publications describing his discoveries.

His interests and hobbies include hiking, traveling, photography, cooking and baking. He is a chocolate, coffee & tea lover.

Course(s)
  • Clinical Genetics & Genomics I
  • Clinical Genetics & Genomics II

Meagan Corliss, MS, CGC
Course Director

GC specializing in laboratory communications and workflows. Special interest in somatic disorders. Loves Cardinals baseball and St. Louis.

Meet Meagan

Meagan Corliss graduated from the Arcadia University Genetic Counseling Program in 2005.

She began her career in Philadelphia, first in cancer genetic counseling at Thomas Jefferson University for one year and then spent eight years in prenatal genetics with Genzyme/Integrated Genetics at Abington Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

Meagan has worked in the Department of Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine since August of 2014 primarily in the NGS Laboratory. She serves as the primary liaison between the patient/client and the laboratory with other areas of focus including specimen workflow, data review, report writing, and regulatory management.

Meagan has previous involvement with the Arcadia University (now the University of Pennsylvania) Graduate Program as a clinical supervisor for their genetic counseling students and is currently involved in the training/teaching in the Laboratory Genetics and Genomics and Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellowship Programs.

Meagan is board certified and a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. She has a special interest in disorders of somatic mosaicism with overgrowth and vascular malformation phenotypes that has grown from reviewing cases received for testing in their laboratory both within the United States and internationally.

In her spare time, she loves watching her son play baseball and her daughter play all things “princess”!

Course(s)
  • Laboratory Genetic Counseling

Katherine King, MD
Course Director

General geneticist with a passion for overgrowth and mosaic disorders. Enjoys education for all levels of trainees. Cat person who also loves dogs.

Meet Katherine

Katherine King‘s interest in Genetics started in 7th grade life science class. After graduating from medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, she moved to St. Louis to complete her training in Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She developed a strong passion for clinical genetics, and completed two years of additional medical genetics training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. She then returned to St. Louis and joined the Division of Genetics & Genomic Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics.

Katherine’s clinical interests include general genetics, with a specific interest in overgrowth disorders, vascular anomalies, and other disorders of somatic mosaicism. She enjoys mentoring trainees interested in medical genetics at all levels, from undergraduate students to current residents and fellows, and is a faculty advisor for the Medical Genetics Interest Group for WUSM. She is excited to expand educational opportunities within the Program in Genetic Counseling.

In her spare time, Katherine enjoys exploring local parks with her family, baking a new recipe, watercolor painting, and playing with her cat, Athena.

Course(s)
  • Genetic Counseling Journal Club

Tim Schedl, PhD
Course Director

Geneticist with expertise in model organism genetics, human genetics, and genomics. Interested in disease gene discovery and determination of gene-variant genetic mechanisms.

Meet Tim

Schedl Lab at Washington University Genetics

Course(s)
  • Genetics and Genomics of Disease

Erin McRoy, MS, CGC
Supplemental Activity Coordinator

Pediatric GC at WashU. Born and raised in St. Louis with a huge love of all things STL. Proud crazy cat lady.

Meet Erin

Erin McRoy graduated from the University of Missouri Columbia in 2019 with a BS in biology. It was during her time at Mizzou she discovered her passion for genetics. She then went on to pursue her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, graduating in 2021.

Erin joined the pediatric genetic counseling team at Washington University in July 2021. As a St. Louis native, she appreciates the reputations WashU and St. Louis Children’s Hospital have within the community, state, and beyond, and she is honored to be part of such a respected institution.

Part of Erin’s love of genetic counseling stems from her own experience as a cancer survivor. After battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma her sophomore year of college, she developed a desire to help patients and families going through difficult medical odysseys, especially those who have received devastating news of a diagnosis. While Erin loves all areas of genetics, she has a special interest in dermatologic and ophthalmologic genetic disorders.

In addition to her role as a genetic counselor, Erin is involved in other projects and departments within WashU. She has joined the Washington University in St. Louis Clinical Site of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, a research study that seeks to provide answers for patients and families affected by mysterious conditions. She will be spearheading the Return of Results Clinic within the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), counseling patients on medically-actionable genetic results returned from research studies conducted at WashU.

Erin also has a love of teaching, and in addition to the lectures she gives for the genetic counseling program, she is involved in the Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Washington University Medical Campus (CIPE) and received her Master Interprofessional Educator certificate in May 2023.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband Drew, their kitty cat Magic, and all her family and friends in the St. Louis area.

Elizabeth Witthaus
Program Coordinator

Special interest in health equity, through the reimagining of health and social systems. Proud St. Louis city dweller, and amateur urban beekeeper.

Meet Elizabeth

Previously a K-12th grade art educator, Elizabeth Witthaus has been a lifelong advocate of equity in education, diversity in curriculum development, and creating an inclusive environment for all learners.

In 2016, she decided to redirect her passion for education, from the school environment to the healthcare environment. Since then, she has invested her time in developing a knowledge of the graduate medical education system. This has led her to a greater interest in health disparities, and how current program trainees can implement research and education to combat these important issues in their field.

In addition to coordinating the Program in Genetic Counseling, Elizabeth is the program coordinator of three graduate Medical Genetics Fellowship Programs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She makes it her priority to ensure that all her program trainees are receiving a competitive education where they can succeed, as well as promoting the importance of trainee wellness and the harmful effects of burnout. She looks forward to collaborating more with program coordinators across the country, specifically in Medical Genetics, to establish a network of highly qualified coordinators in such a specific field.

Elizabeth is a proud St. Louisan, born and raised. She currently lives in St. Louis City, where she spends much of her time out in the community. She and her partner care for three dogs, two of which who are seniors with special needs. Along with their pets, they also maintain multiple apiaries, and support the development of urban beekeeping in St. Louis. In case you were wondering – Elizabeth still finds time to hone her creative abilities and is always trying her hand at some new artistic endeavor. Presently, she is learning how to embroider by hand.

Lecturers & Fieldwork Supervisors

Freddy-May AbiSamra, MS
Washington University School of Medicine
Marisa Vineyard Andrews, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Melanie D. Baxter, ScM, CGC
Saint Francis Healthcare System
Erin Beaver, MS, CGC
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
Katherine M. Christensen, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Alex Correale-Otto, MS, CGC
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
Brook D. Croke, MS, MPH, CGC
Synapticure
Mitch Cunningham, MS, CGC
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
Anna Fangmeier, MGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Erin Fey, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Sadie Friedrich, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Rachel Horstmeyer, MGC, CGC
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
Sue Jaspersen, PhD, MGC, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Susan Jones, MS, CGC
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
Kara C. Klemp, MS, CGC
Labcorp
Jessica Kottmeier, MS, CGC
University of Missouri Health Care
Meghan Krieger, MS, CGC
Myriad
Kalin Kyte, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Linda P. Manwaring, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Ashley McElheny, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Rachita Nikam, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Porter Pavalko, MS, CGC
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
Dawn Peck, MS, CGC
Mayo Clinic & University of Missouri Health Care
Leia A. Peterman-Prather, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Hailey Pinz, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Brynn Shrom, MMSc, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Rachel Slaugh, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Andrea Stacy, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Amie Pannier Stanley, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Ellen Totten, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Samantha Toy, MS, CGC
Washington University School of Medicine
Laura Waldman, MS, CGC
Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Want to contact us directly?

Contact our Program Coordinator Elizabeth Witthaus by calling us at 314-273-8552 or emailing us at geneticcounseling@wustl.edu.

Visit our Program Facebook Page to stay up-to-date!