Genetic Counselling research

Interested in undertaking a Master of Genetic Counselling (Research) or a PhD?

Find out about higher degree research training in the area of genetic counselling:

Master of Genetic Counselling (Research)

Doctor of Philosophy (Genetic Counselling)

The following supervisors are open to receiving expressions of interest:

Genetic information for families of the terminally ill: Developing evidence for a palliative care intervention using mixed-methods (The GIFT project)

Stephanie White’s PhD project aims to describe the barriers and facilitators to, and propose actions to optimise, integration of genetics and genomics into the routine care of palliative care recipients and their families. A systematic review of the barriers and facilitators faced by nurses and physicians across a variety of specialties will be followed by a program of qualitative and quantitative studies. Stephanie is supervised by Professor Jane Phillips, Director of IMPACCT, and Dr Chris Jacobs, senior lecturer in genetic counselling.

This project is funded by a Translational Cancer Research Network PhD Scholarship Top-up award, supported by the Cancer Institute NSW. Further information about the project can be found at the TCRN website.

Genetic counselling for inherited MND and FTD

We aim to identify and explore the barriers and facilitators to genetic counselling for motor neurone disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from a patient and provider perspective. From this, we will propose a new model of genetic counselling service delivery that facilitates informed decision-making, promotes adjustment to a diagnosis of familial MND and FTD and, provides patients and families with consistent, evidence-based care. 

Please contact Ashley if you would like further information about the project at Ashley.K.Crook@student.uts.edu.au

The Core Outcome DEvelopment for Carrier Screening (CODECS) Study

The CODECS study aims to improve our understanding of patient outcomes following genetic testing. Reproductive carrier screening will be utilised as a paradigm to develop the first example of a core outcome set (COS) for evaluation of the effectiveness of a genetic test. A COS represents the minimum set of outcomes that should be measured and reported in all studies on a particular topic, and the development process entails a rigorous approach to ensuring that outcomes of research are relevant to all key stakeholders, including patients. The goal of a COS is to facilitate high quality, reproducible research in its target field that ultimately can be used to inform practice guidelines and policy.

More information can be found at COMET Initiative. Alternatively, please contact Ebony if you would like further information about the project at Ebony.J.Richardson@student.uts.edu.au.

We invite expressions of interest for Master of Genetic Counselling (Research) or PhD students in the following topic areas:

• Parent decision making for inherited conditions: investigating how parents make decisions on behalf of their child in families living with genetic conditions
• Improving diversity in genomics research: investigating how individuals from diverse backgrounds and those living with disabilities can be better supported to participate in genomics research
• Neurodevelopmental conditions and genomics: investigating how genomics can impact diagnosis, care and treatment for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions

Students will have the opportunity to work across disciplines and learn a range of methods including:

• Mixed methods
• Qualitative interviews and focus groups
• Quantitative survey design and analysis
• Scale development
• Best-worst scaling
• Dyadic analysis
• Moderation analysis

Make an online enquiry

For research or supervision enquiries
Email GSHAdmin@uts.edu.au

For research scholarship enquiries
Graduate School of Research Student Support Office 
Phone: +61 2 9514 1336

The Graduate School of Health offers a range of competitive scholarships to support outstanding research students who are seeking to undertake a PhD.

Scholarship info