Biography
Cassie Hajek is a Sioux Falls, SD native. She completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan. Prior to entering medical school, she worked as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. After graduating from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, she completed Internal Medicine residency at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx NY and Medical Genetics fellowship at the UCLA Intercampus Medical Genetics Program. At Sanford she was responsible for leading the Imagenetics program which integrates genomics into the care of patients. Her team successfully launched a preemptive genetic screening program, which utilizes genomic data for patient care in the primary care setting. These efforts included the design and launch of a system-wide education and return of results program. She recently joined the Helix team as Medical Director.
Track Chair:
Ed Esplin, Invitae
Genetic testing has evolved over time and various applications have successfully made it into the clinical setting. While oncology applications are dominating, we also see a rise in genetic/genomic applications for reproductive health, CVD diagnosis, or early life understanding. Technological advancements are required to scale genetic testing applications delivery including relay of genomic information to clinicians and patients. In parallel to technological challenges, hurdles are also observed when it comes to insight/knowledge extraction, reporting of clinical findings, and scaling of genetic counseling. This track will touch upon these various aspects including successful precision medicine models through biopharma ventures for rare disease understanding and direct to consumer genetic testing.
Sessions: