The UTS Master of Genetic Counselling staff have extensive clinical and research experience. Genetic counsellors in the team have worked in Genetic Services in Australia and New Zealand, and researchers have worked in Australia and the United States.
Meet the team
Our Curriculum Advisory Committee includes representatives from genetic counselling, clinical genetics, biomedical ethics, research, Indigenous studies and educational design.
This experienced multidisciplinary group ensures Genetic Counselling curricula are designed for this rapidly moving field.
The team
Lucinda Freeman
Lucinda Freeman started as the Head of Discipline, Genetic Counselling in early 2022. Lucinda is Program Director of the Master of Genetic Counselling.
Lucinda has over fifteen years of clinical experience as a genetic counsellor, having worked at tertiary hospitals across Sydney. She has established leading multidisciplinary clinics for inherited adult-onset metabolic diseases. She has held leadership roles in NSW as the inaugural Chair of the NSW Genetic Counsellor Advisory Network Group and as the genetic counsellor representative on the NSW Northern Sydney Allied Health Research committee. She served as secretary for the Australian Society of Genetic Counsellors (2010 -2012). She is a Churchill Fellow, having explored the evolving profession of Genetic Counselling in the US and the UK in 2017.
Her research focuses on the ethical implementation of genomics in public health screening. She is currently completing a PhD on stakeholder views regarding the inclusion of genes associated with non-syndromic hearing loss in reproductive genetic carrier screening.
Associate Professor Alison McEwen
Associate Professor Alison McEwen led the establishment of the Genetic Counselling Discipline within the Graduate School of Health. Alison has a background in education and teaches in the Master of Genetic Counselling. She is Program Director for the new Graduate Certificate in Genetic Counselling Skills.
She has 16 years’ experience as a genetic counsellor in Wellington.
Alison is a Human Genetic Society of Australasia (HGSA) certified genetic counsellor, completed her PhD in 2011 and undertook training in professional supervision in 2016. She was chair of the HGSA Board of Censors in Genetic Counselling (2008-2011), and the Australasian Society of Genetic Counsellors (2014-2016).
Alison is the immediate past President of the HGSA, the second genetic counsellor to hold this role.
Alison’s research focuses on genetic counselling learning and teaching and professional development.
Dr Erin Turbitt
Dr Erin Turbitt is a senior lecturer and social scientist who joined the Genetic Counselling Discipline in 2018.
Prior to working at the University of Technology Sydney, Dr Turbitt was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, USA. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2014.
Dr Turbitt’s research lies at the intersection of genomics, decision making and ethics. She hopes her research into parental decision making will help drive improvements in healthcare for families of children with genetic conditions, particularly around access to health services and support to make complex decisions that impact their child’s health.
Dr Lisa Dive
Dr Lisa Dive is a Lecturer in the Graduate School of Health, and as a researcher has interests in the ethical aspects of genetics and genomics.
She is a bioethics scholar with a background in analytic philosophy, research qualifications in both philosophy and bioethics, and professional experience in health policy. She has held postdoctoral Research Fellow positions in an NHMRC project on ethical aspects of biobanking, and more recently in Mackenzie's Mission, a major research study on reproductive genetic carrier screening in Australia.
Lisa's research focuses on how rigorous analysis of central ethical concepts can help us respond to challenging real-world ethical dilemmas in health care. She has taught bioethics and public health ethics at postgraduate level and teaches research and ethics in the UTS Genetic Counselling program.
Helen Mountain
Helen Mountain is from Western Australia and comes to the Graduate School of Health as an Associate Lecturer.
Helen has twenty-five years of clinical experience in various settings including adult, prenatal and oncology genetic counselling. Currently, she has clinical roles in cancer and cardiac genetics at Genetic Health Western Australia.
She has experience in public and private clinical roles, research, supervision and teaching. She has had many roles within the Human Genetic Society of Australasia and the Australasian Society of Genetic Counsellors (ASGC) including member and Chair of the Board Censors, ASGC committees, ASGC exec and is the immediate past chair of the ASGC.
DR GEORGINA SCHLUB
Dr Georgina Schlub is a Lecturer in the Graduate School of Health and joined the discipline of Genetic Counselling in 2023.
Georgina is a Human Genetics Society of Australasia (HGSA) certified genetic counsellor and works clinically as a Senior Genetic Counsellor in the specialty area of familial cancer. Prior to completing her Masters of Genetic Counselling in 2018, Georgina worked as a postdoctoral research fellow studying population genetics, phylogenetics and evolutionary biology.
Georgina has experience in teaching, research, and clinical practice. Georgina is interested in implementing trauma informed care into genetic counselling education and practice.
LUCY MURRAY
Lucy Murray has a background in intellectual disability research and prior to joining the Master of Genetic Counselling Program at the University of Technology Sydney, Lucy worked for 14 years with the state-wide Genetics of Learning Disability Service as a clinical genetic counsellor.
Lucy is interested in reducing health inequalities for people with intellectual disabilities and increasing equity of access to genetic services for vulnerable groups.
Lucy also has a background in teaching English as a second language and is currently completing a Master of Public Health at the University of Wollongong.
LISETTE CURNOW
Lisette Curnow is a board-certified Senior Genetic Counsellor with over 20 years clinical experience who works at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, based at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Following postgraduate study at the University of Melbourne, she worked for a year at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto, and since 1999 has worked at VCGS in a range of areas - predominantly neurology, newborn screening and paediatric oncology.
In more recent times she developed a laboratory genetic counsellor role at RCH involving education of non-genetics specialists and triaging of genetic test requests for the RCH.
Lisette has been involved in education of Masters of Genetic Counselling students for 15 years, been a member of various ASGC committees and is the current chair of the Australasian Society of Genetic Counsellors.
Stephanie White
Stephanie White is a lecturer and certified genetic counsellor who joined the UTS team in 2023 after submitting her PhD in the Discipline of Genetic Counselling. Stephanie's research is in the integration of genomics and genetic counselling into routine healthcare, with a specific focus on the palliative care population and an interest in implementation science.
In addition to her academic role, she works in the Department of Clinical Genetics at Royal North Shore Hospital. She has experience in general and cancer genetic counselling and provides counselling supervision to associate genetic counsellors who are completing their certification. Prior to completing the Masters of Genetic Counselling at University of Sydney in 2016, Stephanie was a registered nurse working primarily in emergency medicine.
