BETHESDA, MD – March 18, 2020 | Kuntal Sen, MD, FACMG and Shagun Kaur, MD are the 2020 recipients of the ACMG Foundation/PerkinElmer Diagnostics Travel Award. Dr. Sen and Dr. Kaur were selected to receive the award for their platform presentation, "Genetics Primary Care Clinic Initiated by Combined Pediatric-Medical Genetics and Genomics Residents: A Potential National Model.”
Dr. Kuntal Sen is a graduate of Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai. He completed his pediatrics-medical genetics and genomics residency at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Sen is board certified in clinical genetics and genomics and is currently pursuing a fellowship in pediatric neurology at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC. His career goal is clinical practice in pediatric neurogenetics. His research focus is on multi-modal neuroimaging in inborn errors of metabolism. Dr. Sen has published and presented on newborn screening disorders and rare neurometabolic epilepsies. He is a fellow of the ACMG and a member of the ACMG Therapeutics Committee; he is also passionately involved in the precision therapy of orphan diseases.
Dr. Shagun Kaur is a third-year combined pediatrics‐medical genetics resident at Children's Hospital of Michigan. She grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts and is a graduate of Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, India. She has a strong interest in biochemical genetics and hopes to pursue a fellowship after completing her current training. She is an active member of the resident-run youth advocacy group “Pediatricians Empowering & Advocating Community Health.”
Upon receiving the award, Dr. Sen said, "I feel extremely honored to receive this award from the ACMG Foundation. I am inspired that our efforts to start a dedicated primary care clinic for children with genetic diseases is being recognized at this wonderful platform.”
Dr. Kaur said, "It is a great honor to receive the 2020 PerkinElmer Diagnostics Travel Award. I feel extremely thankful to the ACMG Foundation for the opportunity to share our experiences of starting a primary care clinic dedicated to patients with genetic disorders. I hope this will inspire other centers to replicate this initiative.”
The ACMG Foundation/PerkinElmer Diagnostics Travel Award was originally created in 2008 by Signature Genomics to recognize an ACMG member and first author of a platform presentation abstract for the scientific program. The ACMG Program Committee selects the award recipient based on scientific merit.
"The PerkinElmer Travel Award offers the opportunity for trainees to present their work and meet with colleagues at our annual meeting. We are grateful for their continuing support of this critical program,” said Bruce R. Korf, MD, PhD, FACMG, president of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.
###
About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine
The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the ACMG Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health." Through its work, the ACMG Foundation fosters charitable giving, promotes training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors to the field, shares information about medical genetics and genomics, and sponsors important research. To learn more and support the ACMG Foundation mission to create "Better Health through Genetics" visit http://www.acmgfoundation.org.
Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact Kathy Moran, MBA, ACMG Senior Director of Public Relations at kmoran@acmg.net.