News

Class of 2025 Warren Alpert scholar, Timbria Burke (she/her), published a critically important piece for NSGC Perspectives entitled, “Black/African American” - Black Cultural Erasure in Genetic Counseling. Timbria’s essay highlights the wide-spread conflation between Black and African American and the associated harms from this practice, particularly in genetic counseling. The piece draws attention to the unique cultures, beliefs, and experiences that each Black individual holds, and how the over-generalization and assumption that all Black individuals are also African American erases key cultural differences and identities. 

Timbria is a student at Boston University and co-founder of the Black Genetic Counseling Student Association (BGCSA). She is a recipient of the AIDGC (Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling) fellowship, funded by the Warren Alpert Foundation. She is a Black woman, specifically African American, and was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is committed to advocating for health equity and increasing diversity within the genetic counseling profession. 

Find the full story at https://perspectives.nsgc.org/Article/blackafrican-american-black-cultural-erasure-in-genetic-counseling