Past Board of Directors

2023 - 2025 Board

Heather Tabery

President

Heather has been a practicing genetic counselor for over 15 years, with particular focus on perinatal health and education of patients and providers. Heather is passionate about providing the best possible service to every person every time through kindness, clear communication, and empathy. Professionally, Heather enjoys public speaking, leading amazing teams, and designing thoughtful visuals and handouts. Heather spends her personal time with her partner and their four children. Her hobbies include photography and puzzles.

RJ Okamura

Secretary

RJ has primary interests in new genetics technologies, genetics education, pharmacogenomics, and innovative service delivery methods. He graduated from Stanford's Masters of Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling Program and began his career practicing clinical prenatal, pediatric, and fertility genetic counseling in Fresno, CA and in San Francisco. In 2018 he transitioned to working for commercial genetic laboratories and has experience in a number of roles - most recently as a sales training manager at Myriad Genetics. He has a long-held interest in education. He hopes to continue to support and mentor genetic counseling students in his work on the NCCGC Board.

Kanchi Barfiwala

Treasurer

Kanchi was born in India and moved to the US to start graduate school at the University of Cincinnati Genetic Counseling program in 2014. After graduation, Kanchi spent over two years working as a genetic counselor at Valley Children’s Hospital Maternal Fetal Center in Madera, CA. In 2019 she began working as a clinical genetic counselor at the UCSF Prenatal Diagnostic Center where she also supports the UCSF Genetic Counseling Program by serving on their admissions committee and providing student supervision. One of the things Kanchi enjoys about working in California is the diverse range of patients. She was instrumental in the establishment of UCSF’s satellite prenatal diagnosis center at Washington Hospital in Fremont. There she is able to utilize her fluency in Hindi and Gujarati to serve the primarily Asian Indian patient population. She is excited about being on the board at the NCCGC so that she can impact the profession in the Bay Area, foster connections locally and expand on her leadership skills. She feels that her international experience brings a unique perspective to the Board.

2018 - 2022 Board

Lauri Black

President

Lauri has been a practicing genetic counselor in the Bay Area since graduating from the UC Berkeley program in 1998. Although raised in Oregon, Lauri has embraced her Californian life with interests in yoga and surfing. She is committed to professional and personal growth, continued education and fostering supportive relationships among our region's genetic professionals.

Kelly Chen

Vice President

Raised in Fremont, California, Kelly has studied, trained and worked as a clinical and industry genetic counselor in the Bay Area for 25 years, She is passionate about building and growing our genetic counselor community and is excited to work on initiatives that will enable counselors to thrive in this evolving, technological environment.

Laurie Nemzer

Secretary

Laurie made her way west from New York long ago and never left the Bay area after graduating from the UC Berkeley genetic counseling program. Her career has primarily been divided between clinical work at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and mentoring/teaching many genetic counseling students, first at UCB and more recently at the CSU-Stanislaus Genetic Counseling Program. Her professional interests have centered on the emotional impacts of genetic conditions on patients. She is excited to continue to foster networking opportunities for genetic counselors and students.

Lauren Ryan

Interim Treasurer

Lauren moved to the Bay Area in 2008 to join the inaugural class of the CSU Stanislaus program, from which she graduated in 2010. She spent several years in clinical oncology genetic counseling practice prior to a move into the startup world, where she has focused on her passion for consumer-initiated genetic testing, equitable access to genetics services, and innovative service delivery models. She is an active volunteer within both NSGC and NCCGC and enjoys every opportunity to connect with local students, colleagues, and friends in the NorCal GC community.

Kenny Wong

Board Member

Kenny has been in the Bay Area since 2007 after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in Genetic Counseling. He developed his passion for building healthcare products after spending several years as a prenatal GC @ UCSF. He has over a decade of experience in the startup industry and is passionate about product strategy/management, networking, and helping fellow GCs in professional development.

Allie Anguiano

Board Member

Allie has been a practicing genetic counselor in Denver, Salt Lake City and most recently the Bay Area in both clinical and laboratory settings. She is passionate about non-traditional roles for genetic counselors, networking with colleagues to continue growing the Northern California community, and professional development.

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