meet the

leadership

Find out more about the AUG Board of Directors

board of directors

  • Rachel Palmquist
    Rachel Palmquist Director

    Rachel graduated from the University of Utah Genetic Counseling Program in 2014. She works at University of Utah Pediatrics and Primary Children’s Center for Personalized Medicine. Her clinical focus is primarily in epilepsy, pediatric neurogenetics and rapid sequencing in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. In her role she supports local pediatric-wide initiatives and research around genomic sequencing and genomic data collection and infrastructure. Rachel is excited for the opportunity to work with and learn from the larger Utah GC community.

  • Krista Qualmann
    Krista Qualmann Director

    Krista is a genetic counselor with eight years of clinical experience in neurogenetics. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati Genetic Counseling Program in 2014. After graduation, she worked as a clinical and research genetic counselor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston department of neurosurgery for six and a half years, where she specialized in adult neurogenetic, neuro-oncology, and neurovascular conditions. Next, she worked at Invitae providing post-test telehealth genetic counseling to patients who have undergone genetic testing for multiple specialties. Currently, Krista serves as an independent contractor for several companies, including serving patients with ALS and Parkinson disease at Synapticure and seeing patients for multiple indications via Grey Genetics. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, playing games, reading, and playing with her pets.

  • Elise Austin
    Elise Austin Director

    Elise is a licensed and certified genetic counselor with over 10 years of experience in public health, clinical practice, student supervision, and industry. She currently practices at St. Mark’s Hospital as an oncology genetic counselor. Since relocating to Utah and becoming an AUG member in 2014, she has participated in multiple events such as journal clubs, education conferences, and advocacy events. She is looking forward to further serving and engaging in the Utah genetic counseling community through the Board of Directors. She resides in Salt Lake City and currently spends a lot of time at home with her husband and two young sons.

  • Heather Nick
    Heather Nick President

    Heather Nick, MS CGC is a clinical oncology genetic counselor with Intermountain Healthcare in Murray, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling in Spring 2020. Heather’s professional interests are centered around patient autonomy, genomic data sharing, and improving access to genetic counseling services. As part of AUG, Heather hopes to find ways to bring the local GC community together and support prospective students as they learn more about the profession.

  • Susana San Roman
    Susana San Roman Director

    Susana San Roman, MS, CGC, is a licensed genetic counselor with 9 years of experience in the laboratory and industry settings. She currently works at Myriad Genetic Laboratories providing medical support to patients, healthcare providers, and other departments within the company. She is passionate about student supervision, leadership, and serving Spanish-speaking patients residing in the U.S. and abroad. Susana hopes to join the AUG board of directors to help energize and support the local genetic counseling community.

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