A genetic counselor’s job includes supporting research efforts, participating in community outreach programs and seeing patients on an individual basis to search for genetic links for cancers and other diseases between family members.

Oftentimes, genetic counselors have to make the scientific information more accessible to cancer patients.

“My job is to translate science to humanese,” Vickie Venne, genetic counselor, said.

Perhaps the most prevalent part of their job, however, is listening to and counseling patients and families who have no one else to talk to, genetic counselor Angela Schwab said.

“The communication aspect is so enjoyable; we do a lot of listening,” Schwab said.

Doctors frequently recommend people to genetic counselors when patients find out a family member has cancer, and many people who have been diagnosed go the specialists to see if their families are at risk as well.

The counselors then “collect family history, assess risks, educate and provide counseling when needed,” Venne said.

About 30 percent of people with cancer have either strong family histories or close family members who have had cancer. The genetic counselors make three-generation family pedigrees of those who have family histories and assess the likeliness of inheritance for further generations.

Schwab said many people don’t realize that genetic counseling can be beneficial. On a recent trip to Arkansas, she met a mother whose son had cystic fibrosis. When asked if she knew if it was genetic, the mother said, “You mean they don’t just get it?”

The mother and father ended up being carriers of the disease.

“We are telling people about their family histories and the potential health risks they may have,” Schwab said. “That’s really important to patients and their families.”

The Huntsman Cancer Institute’s genetic counselors are the only licensed counselors of their kind nationwide. The U also offers one of the only genetic counseling training programs in the country.

The Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Director’s Series brought together three of the four genetic counselors to take part in a panel discussion Wednesday to show what they do and why their duties are crucial to the oncology team at the Institute.