Laurie Nemzer has been a genetic counselor for 40 years. Originally from New York, Laurie received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Master’s in Genetic Counseling from the University of California-Berkeley. Most of her clinical work was as a genetic counselor at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland where she specialized in seeing prenatal and pediatric patients, as well as adults with rare genetic conditions. She has a particular interest in the emotional impact of chronic illness and disability on individuals and families. She has taught counseling classes to genetic counseling graduate students and was the director of the California State University, Stanislaus Genetic Counseling Graduate Program. Laurie enjoys mentoring prospective genetic counseling students and has coordinated an outreach and shadowing program at Kaiser for many years.