select interviews
Wall Street Journal
“We have the technology and it’s affordable enough that we don’t need to put people into ethnic categories,” says Shivani Nazareth, director of women’s health for Counsyl Inc., in South San Francisco, Calif., one of the largest carrier-screening companies. “If we can offer the same panel to everyone, it’s so much more efficient.”
- excerpt from “New Genetic Tests for Women Who are Expecting” by Bonnie Rochman
Parents’ Magazine
“Just like family characteristics, such as hair and eye color, people can inherit genetic diseases from their parents. In fact, two people who are carriers for the same condition have a one in four chance of passing the disease to their children," said Shivani Nazareth, Counsyl's director of women's health, in the release. "Pursuing genetic screening before getting pregnant gives couples important knowledge that can make a difference for a family's well being.”
- excerpt from “Most People Don’t Think that DNA Screening is a Must Before Starting a Family”
Genetic Engineering and Biotech News
“As a genetic counselor, for years I talked to patients who faced health hardships that could have been avoided had they known their genetic makeup. I felt we were not doing right by patients, but, of course, from a public-health perspective, it was too expensive to proactively offer screening to everyone. It is exhilarating to be at the forefront of this trend in preventative medicine,” concluded Nazareth.”
- excerpt from “Baby Love Motivates Quest for Knowledge”
Prevention Magazine
“Men who have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation may never develop breast cancer because male breast cancer is so rare to begin with," Nazareth says. "However, they can pass the mutation to their daughters, who then have a greatly increased risk above the general population to develop certain cancers.”
- excerpt from “Six Unexpected Health Conditions You Can Inherit”
Jewish Journal
“The ability to detect rare genetic diseases at this scale is a tremendous advancement in the field of genetics. Every disorder is actionable; in other words, results can be used to improve clinical outcomes,” said Shivani Nazareth.
- excerpt from “Need for Genetic Testing Raised by New Initiative GeneTestNow”
MedCity News
“So much of pregnancy is unknown – you can’t control everything,” Nazareth said. “But for those who want the information, it’s so much better to have it before you conceive rather than at the first prenatal visit.”
- excerpt from “Bringing Carrier Screening to the Mainstream” by Meghana Keshavan
New York Times
“High-risk couples may choose alternative methods of family planning, such as in-Vitro fertilization with pre-implantation diagnosis, prenatal testing, gamete donation or adoption. Some may use the information to prepare for the birth of a child with disabilities. Most couples who have a child with a recessive genetic disease have no family history of the condition. These tests are no longer reserved as tools for diagnosis after a child is born." - Shivani Nazareth