Erica Bednar
Genetic Counselor / Adjunct Instructor
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Clinical Cancer Genetics
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
McGovern Medical School
Department of Pediatrics
My research interests focus on inherited predispositions to cancer, delivery of genetic counseling services to medically underserved communities, and the dissemination of evidence-based cancer genetic counseling and genetic testing interventions to improve compliance with national guidelines. My clinical research has included retrospective reviews of cancer genetic counseling in gynecologic oncology clinics, including evaluation of cancer genetics services in a county hospital clinic providing indigent patient care, and clinic-based quality improvement initiatives to increase use of guideline recommended cancer genetics services. My research activities include the implementation and facilitation of a quality improvement dissemination project to multiple oncology clinic locations to increase guideline-compliant referral, genetic counseling, and genetic testing among patients with breast and ovarian cancer. As part of the dissemination project, I have developed and performed environmental scans to assess clinical care processes and context specific to cancer genetics services in a variety of clinical settings. Beyond delivery of genetics services to patients with cancer, I am also interested in the application of behavioral science theory, and implementation and dissemination methods, to improve communication and cascade genetic testing within families with hereditary predisposition to cancer.
Education & Training
M.S., University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 2013
M.P.H., UTHealth School of Public Health, 2019