About the TAGC International Network
In 2006, the first ever international meeting of genetic counselor educators was held in Manchester, England with representatives from eighteen countries, including forty-five genetic counseling programs and fifteen professional organizations. At this inaugural conference, “Genetic Counseling Education: Connecting the Global Community,” participants were eager to tap the potential for future collaboration and created the Transnational Alliance for Genetic Counseling.
TAGC strives to foster communication and collaboration among the international genetic counseling community and enhance genetic counseling education transnationally. Our formal incorporation was adopted at TAGC Barcelona 2008. Since then, TAGC Montreal 2011 and TAGC Barcelona 2016 have built on our connections. The TAGC listserv promotes our continued transnational communication. Where will we meet next? Stay connected and see!
This website serves as the nexus for the TAGC, continuing and building upon our global connections and as a resource site to the greater genetic counseling community. As you explore herein, we welcome your input and international perspectives.
| President | Kelly Ormond | 2021-present | Stanford University |
| Australia | Jan Hodgson | 2020-2022 | University of Melbourne |
| Austria | Gunda Schwaninger | 2022-2024 | |
| Canada | Jennifer Fitzpatrick | 2021- 2023 | McGill University |
| Cuba | Paulina Araceli Lantigua-Cruz | 2022- 2024 | National Center for Medical Genetics |
| France | Jean-Michael Mazzella | 2020-2022 | University of Marseille |
| India | Annie Hasan | 2022-2024 | |
| Israel | Shiri Shkedi | 2021-2023 | Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center |
| Italy | Francesca Mari | 2020-2023 | University of Siena |
| Japan | Masakazu Nishigaki | 2020-2022 | International University of Health and Welfare |
| Malaysia | Juliana Lee | 2022-2024 | National University of Malaysia |
| Netherlands | Sara Joosten | 2021-2023 | Dutch Association of Genetic Counsellors |
| Norway | Ashil d Lunde | 2020-2022 | University of Bergen |
| Philippines | Peter James Abad | 2021-2023 | University of Philippines |
| Portugal | Milena Paneque | 2021-2023 | University of Porto |
| Saudi Arabia | Moeen Al-Sayed | 2020-2022 | King Faisal Hospital & Research Center |
| South Africa | Tina Wessels | 2022-2024 | University of Cape Town |
| South Korea | Hyon Kim | 2021-2023 | Ajou University Kyunyang University |
| Spain | Clara Serra | 2021-2023 | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Taiwan | Lian-Hua Huang | 2020-2022 | National Taiwan University |
| United Kingdom | Rhona Macleod | 2021-2023 | University of Manchester |
| United States | Janice Edwards | 2021-2023 | University of South Carolina |
Asia
Professional Society of Genetic Counselors in Asia (PSGCA)
Australia and New Zealand
Australasian Board of Censors in Genetic Counseling
Australasian Society of Genetic Counselors (ASGC)
Canada
Canadian Association of Genetic Counselors (CAGC)
Cuba
National Center of Medical Genetics (NCMG)
China
Chinese Board of Genetic Counseling (CBGC)
Europe
European Board of Medical Genetics
The European Society of Medical Genetics (ESHG)
France
Association of French Genetic Counselors (AFCG)
India
Board of Genetic Counseling in India (BCG)
Ireland
Irish Society of Human Genetics (ISHG)
Israel
The Israeli Association of Genetic Counselors (IAGC)
Japan
Japanese Board of Genetic Counselors (JBGC)
Japanese Society of Genetic Counselors (JSGC)
Japanese Society of Human Genetics (JSHG)
Korea
The Genetics Society of Korea (GSK)
Malaysia
National University of Malaysia
Portugal
Portuguese Society of Human Genomics (SPGH)
Romania
Romanian Society of Human Genetics (SRGM)
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS)
South Africa
Genetic Counselling South Africa (GC-SA)
Health Professions Council of South Africa
Southern African Society for Human Genetics (SASHG)
Spain
Spanish Society of Genetic Counseling (SEAGEN)
Sweden
Swedish Society of Genetic Counselors (SSGC)
Swedish Society of Medical Genetics (SFMG)
Taiwan
Taiwan Association of Genetic Counseling (TAGC)
The Netherlands
Dutch Association of Clinical Genetics (VKGN)
Dutch Association of Genetic Counsellors (NVGC)
Dutch Association of Nursing Specialists (Venvnvs)
Netherlands Association of Physician Assistants (NAPA)
United Kingdom
Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors (AGNC)
Genetic Counsellor Registration Board (GCRB)
United States
Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC)
American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC)
| Program | Director |
| Yerevan State University | Davit Babikyan |
| Program | Director |
| University of Melbourne | Jan Hodgson |
| University of Technology in Sydney | Alison McEwen |
| Program | Director |
| Medical University of Innsbruck | Gunda Schwaninger and Johannes Zschocke |
| Program |
| University of São Paulo |
| Program |
| Fudan University |
| Program | Director |
| National Center for Medical Genetics | Araceli Lantigua Cruz |
| Program | Director |
| Aix Marseille University | Nicole Philip |
| Program |
| Certificate Course in Genetic Counselling in Manipal Hospitals, Bangalore |
| Vellore Institute of Technology |
| Kasturba Medical College |
| Post Graduate Certificate Course in Medical and Genetic Counselling at Kamineni Hospitals |
| Program | Director |
| University of Siena | Alessandra Renieri |
| Program | Director |
| Hadassah Hebrew University | Shiri Shkedi |
| Tel Aviv University | Michal Berkenstadt |
| Technion Israel Institute of Technology |
| Program | Director |
| Chiba University | Akira Hata |
| Fujita Health University | Yoshikiyo Kanada |
| International University of Health and Welfare | |
| Iwate Medical University | |
| Juntendo University | |
| Kanazawa University | |
| Kawasaki University | Mitsuo Masuno |
| Kindai University | Kazuo Fujikawa |
| Kitasato University | Fumio Takada |
| Kyoto Univsersity | Shinji Kosugi |
| Nagaski University | Tadashi Matsumoto |
| Niigata University | |
| Ochanomizu University | Hiroshi Kawame |
| Osaka University | |
| Sapporo Medical University | |
| Shinshu University | Yoshimitsu Fukushima |
| Tohoku University | Hiroshi Kawame |
| Tokyo Medical and Dental University | |
| Tokyo Women's Medical University | Kayoko Saito |
| Tottori University |
| Program | Director |
| Ajou University | Hyon J. Kim |
| Kyunyang University | Hyon J. Kim |
| Konyang University |
| Program |
| National University of Malaysia |
| Program | Director |
| Hanze University of Groningen | Beppy Caanen |
| Inholland University Graduate School | |
| Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences | |
| University of Applied Sciences Utrecht |
| Program | Director |
| University of Bergen | Ashil D. Lunde |
| Program | Director |
| University of the Philippines Manila | Carmencita Padila |
| Program | Director |
| University of Porto | Jorge Sequiros |
| Program | Director |
| Alfaisal University | Moeen Al-Sayed |
| King Abdulaziz University of Jeddah |
| Program | Director |
| University of Cape Town | Tina Wessels |
| University of Witwatersand | Shelley Macaulay |
| Program | Director |
| University of Pompeu Fabra | Luiz Perez |
| Program | Director |
| Linköping University | Rebecka Pestoff |
| Program | Director |
| National Taiwan University | Fang-Jen Lee |
| Program | Director |
| Cardiff University | Marion McAllister |
| University of Manchester | Rhona Macleod |
| University of Glasgow |
International Committee on Genetic Counselor Credentialing
TAGC promotes communication and collaboration in genetic counseling, transnationally.
In 2010, the TAGC Board of Directors agreed to facilitate an International Committee on Genetic Counseling Credentialing for the purpose of promoting communication among the professional organizations that
currently certifies/registers genetic counselors, internationally.
The charge of this committee is to create direct dialogue to:
1. Understand commonalities and differences in established credentialing processes
2. Create web accessible information on credentialing linked to each organization’s
website
3. Learn from the experience of organizations that have developed processes for recognizing
credentials of foreign trained genetic counselors
4. Explore the possibility of certification recognition between countries
5. Assist countries developing credentialing through accessibility of information
The International Committee on Genetic Counselor Credentialing first met in Montreal, 2011 With Representatives of the following Genetic Counselor
Credentialing Organizations:
American Board of Genetic Counseling
Australasian Board of Censors for Genetic Counseling
Canadian Association of Genetic Counselors Certification Board
Genetic Counselor Registration Board (UK)
Health Professions Council of South Africa
Japanese Board of Genetic Counselors
Barcelona 2016 created the opportunity for a second meeting of the organizations representing genetic
counselors, internationally. The Genetic Counselor and Genetic Nurse Division of the European Board of Medical
Genetics hosted the meeting in May 2016 with representatives from the following organizations,
each of whom pledged to continue an open dialogue on international recognition of
genetic counselor education.
Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling
American Board of Genetic Counseling
Australasian Board of Censors in Genetic Counseling
Canadian Association of Genetic Counselors Certification Board
French Association of Genetic Counselors
Genetic Counselor Registration Board (UK)
Health Professional Council of South Africa
TAGC maintains current information on the established credentialing process for each
country here, with links to each organization’s website and policies, including the
current policy (if available) on recognizing certified genetic counselors trained
in a foreign country. As genetic counseling education and credentialing evolves in
other countries, we expect this web-resource to grow. We hope the accessibility and
transparency of information will be useful to all.
Click to explore the established credentialing processes for each country:
| Australia | Philippines |
| Canada | South Africa |
| Japan | United Kingdom |
| Netherlands | United States |