Program Director
Jennifer Eichmeyer graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston with her MS in genetic counseling in 2002. She started her career in Idaho as a prenatal genetic counselor at St. Luke’s Health System and established the first cancer genetic counseling clinic for the state. Subsequently, Jennifer worked in pediatric genetic counseling then transitioned to cancer full time while participating with the NCCCP grant and served as a lead genetic counselor at St. Luke’s until 2017. Jennifer has been involved in the development of the High Risk Breast Clinic, Lynch syndrome screening program, and telehealth genetic counseling services. She initiated a pharmacogenetic testing program for oncology patients and developed the genetic test utilization management program for the St. Luke’s Reference Lab. Jennifer was also a co-lead to pass genetic counseling licensing legislation in the State of Idaho which was successful in 2015. She also owned and operated a private practice telehealth genetic counseling service from 2018-2023 and continues to be involved with patients through the Genetic Support Foundation.
As a member of the Hispanic community, Jennifer is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issues affecting access to genetic counseling services as well as access to training in the profession. Her thesis “An Assessment of Understanding in Hispanic Genetic Counseling Patients” was published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, and her volunteer efforts include co-chairing the NSGC Diversity SIG, sitting on the ACGC Diversity Task Force, teaching a folic acid class in Spanish for the March of Dimes, and speaking at the Hispanic Youth Symposium. She has earned the BUILD certificate to be a campus leader supporting diversity and inclusion efforts. Jennifer also serves as a dialogue facilitator to foster productive conversations around race, ethnicity, gender, and class as well as a Search Advocate for recruiting and retention on campus. She is a member of the Minority Genetics Professionals Network and the Alliance for Genomic Justice.
Jennifer has received the nationally recognized Innovator Award from the Association of Community Cancer Centers and received the St. Luke’s President’s Award in 2014. She was also the Outstanding Alumni Awardee for the UT-Houston program in 2019 and selected for the MSTI50 Impact Recognition by St. Luke’s in 2020. She received the Boise State School of Allied Health Sciences Vision and Leadership Award in 2021.
She is actively involved with NSGC, GCEA, and ABGC serving as a leader and member in various capacities. She is currently on the board of directors for the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) and serves on the Executive Committee as the incoming President. Jennifer has also been an author and peer-reviewer for several articles for the Journal of Genetic Counseling and is the co-founder and consultant of the Prospective Genetic Counseling Guidance Program, aimed at reaching out to prospective genetic counselors who do not have access to local shadowing opportunities.
Courses:
- GENCOUN 521 Clinical Genetics
- GENCOUN 540 Professional Issues I
- GENCOUN 550 Fieldwork II
- GENCOUN 551 Fieldwork III
- GENCOUN 552 Fieldwork IV