Mr. Keiles began working at Ambry in 2000 where he oversees the client services department. He is also involved in contracting, new product development, pricing, marketing, and research publication. Mr. Keiles obtained his masters degree in genetic counseling from Sarah Lawrence College in 1987. As a genetic counselor at Kaiser Permanente his responsibilities included clinic coordination, program implementation and counseling for all genetic referrals. He was elected the 2009 President of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, where he was responsible for leading the association and serving as the chief spokesperson. Mr. Keiles has more than 20 years of clinical experience and his research publications include molecular diagnostic testing for cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis.
Genetic Counselors
Steven Keiles, M.S., CGC
Ira Lu, M.A., M.S., CGC
Ms. Lu graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. and M.A. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She was actively involved in undergraduate genetics and microbiology courses as a teaching assistant and researched quantitative trait loci (QTL) for cholesterol gallstone susceptibility in a mouse model. She was the principal QTL curator for the Mouse Genome Database at The Jackson Laboratory from 2001-2009 and received her training in genetic counseling and M.S. in Human Genetics at Sarah Lawrence College in 2007. Prior to working at Ambry Genetics, Ms. Lu was a clinical prenatal genetic counselor with Genzyme Genetics.
Heather Hanson Pierce, Ph.D., M.S., CGC
Dr. Pierce graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with a B.S. in Biology, and received her Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She went on to earn an M.S. in Genetic Counseling from the Mount Sinai Medical School in New York. Before joining Ambry, Dr. Pierce served as the Director of the Clinical Genetic Counseling Service for the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky and was appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncology in the UK Department of Internal Medicine.
Kelly D. F. Gonzalez, M.S., CGC
Ms. Gonzalez received a B.A. in Psychobiology from Scripps College (the Claremont Colleges) and a M.A. in Genetic Counseling from the University of Arizona. She worked for more than four years as a senior genetic counselor at the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory at City of Hope, where she continued her involvement in research, most of which focused on Li-Fraumini Syndrome (LFS). She has more than 15 peer-reviewed publications in molecular genetics and has been an invited lecturer at several scientific meetings. Ms. Gonzalez recently moved to a new role in Ambry's clinical lab, which allows her to draw upon her expertise in next generation sequencing, as well as her roots in laboratory counseling. She will be leading Ambry's new and emerging clinical genomics offerings, most notably, the Clinical Diagnostic Exome.
Tami Johnston, M.S., CGC
Mrs. Johnston graduated from Tulane University with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology and received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling with Distinction from California State University, Northridge. During her graduate training, Mrs. Johnston's clinical rotation sites included Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of California, Los Angeles Familial Cancer Registry & Genetic Evaluation Program. She then embarked on her career at Alfigen, The Genetics Institute, where she worked in both clinical and laboratory settings. She spent several years as a laboratory Genetic Coordinator at Genzyme Genetics before joining Ambry Genetics.
Holly Laduca, M.S., CGC
Mrs. LaDuca, M.S., CGC received her B.S. in Health Science from Benedictine University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She then received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University. Prior to joining Ambry, Mrs. LaDuca served as a clinical genetic counselor in the Department of Cancer Services at Northwest Community Hospital (Arlington Heights, IL).
Frances Oh, M.S.
Ms. Oh graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.S. in Biochemistry and received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Ms. Oh has had years of research experience prior to coming to Ambry. She worked on honors research project of bacterial cytochrome p450 during undergraduate years and then worked at UCLA Department of Neurology, conducting research on calcium channelopathies. Her Master’s thesis was on genetics of cardiac arrhythmia and ion channels. Ms. Oh’s current expertise is in cancer genetics and her clinical experiences include rotations/internships through City of Hope, St. Joseph Hospital Cancer Center, UCI Medical Center, CHOC and Long Beach Medical Center.
Melissa Parra, M.S., CGC
Ms. Parra, M.S., CGC joined the client services department at Ambry Genetics in 2010. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Davis in 1997 and Master of Science degree in Genetic Counseling from California State University, Northridge in 2005. In her current position, Ms. Parra assists clients with test coordination, result reporting and interpretation. Her specialty within the department is in chromosome microarray analysis and the NextGen sequencing panel for X-linked mental retardation.
Tina Pesaran, M.A., M.S., CGC
Mrs. Pesaran graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. She remained at UCLA for her masters in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, studying the genetics of cardiovascular disease. She then received her master’s in genetic counseling from California State University, Northridge. Prior to working at Ambry, Mrs. Pesaran worked as a cancer genetic counselor at the GenRISK program at Cedars Sinai and then as a prenatal and cancer genetic counselor at Harlem Hospital Center.
Jessica Ray, M.S., CGC
Ms. Ray completed her B.S. in Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University and obtained her M.A. in Genetic Counseling from the University of Arizona. She was the Senior Genetic Counselor at the Arizona Cancer Center, a Member of High-Risk Breast and Ovarian Cancer Clinic, Clinical Faculty for the Ph.D. Cancer Biology Program, and Medical Ethics Preceptor and Lecturer for University of Arizona School of Medicine. In 2007, Ms. Ray obtained certification from the American Board of Genetic Counselors and was co-author of two publications in MedSurg Nursing and Oncology Nursing Forum. She is now a Cancer Genetic Counselor with Ambry Genetic Laboratories.
Jill Siegfried, M.S., CGC
Ms. Siegfried, R.N., M.S., CGC graduated with honors from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in Educational Studies, obtained a Bachelors of Nursing from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA, and received her M.S. in Medical Genetics from the University of Cincinnati. After completing her genetic counseling training, Ms. Siegfried served for 4 years as Program Coordinator for the Cancer Risk Evaluation Program at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to joining Ambry in 2011, Ms. Siegfried worked as a research genetic counselor with the Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy Research Project (www.fdc.to) and as a clinical genetic counselor with the Cardiovascular Genetic Medicine Program at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
Aaron (AJ) Stuenkel, M.S., CGC
Mr. Stuenkel joined Ambry following his graduate training at Boston University School of Medicine, where he earned an M.S. in Genetic Counseling. He also holds a B.S. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis and prior to his current position, worked as a clinical cancer research coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Mr. Stuenkel is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) and is board certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC).
Kendra Waller, M.S., CGC
Ms. Waller graduated with honors from Texas Tech University with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Genetics and received her M.S. from University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center. She served as a prenatal genetic counselor in the Clinical Services Division of Genzyme Genetics prior to joining Ambry.
Linbo Yu, M.S., CGC
Ms. Yu joined Ambry in 2009 where she works as a genetic counselor in the clinical diagnostics services department. Her primary role includes performing extensive literature research to provide quality results interpretation for various genetic diseases. She also serves as clinical liaison and assists clients with test information and coordination. Prior to joining Ambry, Ms. Yu interned at Genzyme Genetics as a genetic coordinator. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles as a Regent’s scholar with a B.S. in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) in 2007. Ms. Yu went on to receive her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of California, Irvine in 2009.