Alexis Rock Email & Phone Number

CRC on the VERDI Study in the division of Cancer Genetics & Prevention

Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

In Prenatal and Pediatric Clinics• Practiced psychosocial skills including assessment, support, counseling, and facilitation of decision making.• Conducted thorough case management, including preparation, documentation, and collection of family/medical histories. Completed live risk assessments based on those histories.• Discussed options, benefits, and limitations of genetic testing, as well as inheritance patterns, prognosis, and medical management.• Disclosed positive and negative results to patients via telephone or in-person consultation.• Counseled patients in a variety of setting including in-person, video call, and by telephone.• Trained in usage of Epic EMR to examine patient records for case preparation and chart on patient consultations.• Completed student observation days prior to completing student rotation in the clinic.Prenatal Clinic Specific• Counseled on a variety of referrals including recurrent miscarriage, carrier screening/carrier status for various disorders (e.g., hemoglobinopathies, metabolic disorders, neuromuscular disorders), aneuploidy screening, ultrasound anomalies (e.g., clubfoot, single umbilical artery, renal agenesis, urinary tract dilation, hydrops fetalis).• During 7-week rotation, completed 34 participatory cases (50% or more of the consultation). • Observed prenatal diagnostic testing procedures including chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis.• Observed cases in UMass’s reproductive endocrinology and infertility clinic.• Completed student observation days prior to completing student rotations. Pediatric Clinic Specific• Counseled on a variety of referrals including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down syndrome, skeletal anomalies, epilepsy, and cystic fibrosis (CF).• During 3-day rotation, completed 5 participatory cases (50% or more of the consultation).

Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States

• Attended daily lectures on the various aspects of genetic counseling in industry. Including discussions on variant science interpretation, designing a panel, and industry case management.• Completed mock sessions, under the supervision of a genetic counselor, consulting on carrier screening results and cancer panel selection.• Shadowed multiple GCs to better understand their area of industry, including sessions focused on prenatal molecular testing, postnatal cytology, biochemical testing, and hereditary oncology counseling.• Completed a student project that involved in-depth research of pharmacogenomics and creation of a provider printed education material (PEM).

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

• Counseled on a variety of cancer sites (e.g., breast, colon, pancreatic, thyroid, leukemia, ovarian, etc.) and specific cancer syndromes including hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, Lynch syndrome, and multiple endocrine neoplasia.• Practiced psychosocial skills including assessment, support, counseling, and facilitation of decision making.• Conducted thorough case management, including preparation, documentation, and collection of family/medical histories. Completed live risk assessments based on those histories.• Discussed options, benefits, and limitations of genetic testing, as well as inheritance patterns, prognosis, and medical management.• Counseled patients in a variety of settings including in-person, video call, and by telephone.• During 7-week rotation, completed 21 participatory cases (50% or more of the consultation).• Trained in usage of Epic EMR to examine patient records for case preparation and chart on patient consultations.• Completed student observation days prior to completing student rotation in the clinic.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Conducted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded research, with a goal of defining bacterial relationships in soil.• Developed model soil environments to evaluate survival and persistence of synthetic biology microbes.• Led a team of undergraduate researchers, training them in flow cytometry experimentation / cytometric analytical software (FlowJo) analysis and use of model soil environments to examine bacterial relationships. • Maintained lab organization, compiled data into research articles, and participated in / presented at weekly lab meetings.

• Trained in laboratory skills including flow cytometry, spectrometry, pouring agar plates, creating basic solutions (e.g., Luria broth, TAE buffer), inoculation of bacterial cultures, serial dilutions, and maintaining sterile technique.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Assisted post-doctoral research, Andres Filipe Carrillo, with his Raytheon sponsored research on trinitrotoluene (TNT) biosensors.

Master Of Science - Ms, Genetic Counseling

Graduated with my Master of Science in Genetic Counseling and completed my thesis titled "The Psychological Effect of Labeling Pregnancies.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Biology And Biotechnology

Activities and Societies: Phi Sigma Sigma, Order of Omega (Greek Life Honor Society), Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-Health Honor Society).

High School Diploma