Sarah Charles, MS, CGC (Genetic Counselor) joined the cancer team at Jefferson in September of 2006. She specializes in the genetics of families
with known or suspected hereditary susceptibilities to cancer, including that of the pancreas.
Examples of genetic conditions associated with an increased risk of pancreas cancer include: familial breast cancer, familial
melanoma, Peutz-Jegher Syndrome, hereditary pancreatitis, and familial colon cancer (HNPCC).
Ms. Charles completed her undergraduate studies at University of Delaware, where she received an Honors Bachelor of Arts in
Biological Sciences, prior to earning her Master of Science in Genetic Counseling degree at Arcadia University. She was awarded
with the National Society of Genetic Counselor’s Beth Fine Student Abstract Award for her thesis project titled "Satisfaction
with genetic counseling for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among African American women," which was later published in the Journal of Patient Education and Counseling. Through Arcadia’s program she completed her cancer genetics training at the University of Pennsylvania and her clinical
genetics training at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she subsequently worked as the genetic counselor in the
Neurofibromatosis and 22q/VCFS specialty clinics, among others.
Her professional areas of interest include the communication of hereditary cancer risk within families, cancer surveillance
behaviors following genetic testing, and hereditary cancer education and outreach. She is certified by the American Board
of Genetic Counseling (ABGC).
For more information about hereditary cancer, Ms. Charles can be reached at 215-955-1011.
