Alumni Highlight: Hannah Davidson

Meet Hannah Davidson

Hannah Davidson—a recent ScM in Genetic Counseling alum—reflects on pursuing genetic counseling training following her experience as a doula, gaining critical clinical and research skills during her time as a student, and navigating post-grad life as an early-career, rare disease genetic counselor.

• Program: ScM in Genetic Counseling
• Graduation year: 2024
• Fun fact: “Growing up, I was not your typical ‘STEM’ student! I loved English/language arts and the arts in general and thought for a very long time that I was going to be an art teacher or arts therapist.”
• Hometown: Western Massachusetts (although Baltimore/the DMV has become a second home)

Finding a Path to Public Health

What sparked your interest in public health?

My interest in public health began in my early 20s, when I made the decision to do birth and postpartum doula training. I had always been interested in childbirth and child-rearing and had heard about doulas from some family friends. I was really fortunate to be trained by a seasoned homebirth midwife. Although doulas do not deliver babies themselves, we provide skilled support on things like movement in birth, postpartum care when a parent returns home, and empowering families to advocate for themselves in an often-challenging medical environment. 

Doing this work introduced me to the complex considerations of maternal health in the United States. It left me curious about how we apply scientific knowledge to care, how we account for those who are systematically left behind to improve healthier outcomes for all, and importantly, how we can provide care that is informed by rigorous research but also continues to center interpersonal connection. 

My training as a doula brought me back to college, first as a community college student in the sciences, and later to Hampshire College, where I designed a major in maternal health, medical anthropology, and human biology.

What led you to join the Department of Health, Behavior and Society?

After graduating from undergrad, I thought very carefully about where in healthcare I wanted to land. I knew that I wanted to build clinical skills and expertise, but I also didn't want to completely neglect my growing interest in research. I was also starting to come to terms with the fact that medical school was maybe not the best fit for me personally or professionally. 

My last year of undergrad, I was a NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program recipient. This award was tied into a ‘payback’ year in a lab of my choosing at NIH. I ended up in Dr. Laura Koehly's lab at the National Human Genome Research Institute. NHGRI is a social science research group that explores how the social network and communal coping comes to bear on the rare disease caregiving experience. This work introduced me to the world of rare disease and genetic medicine, including (importantly) genetic counselors. 

Genetic counseling felt like a great marriage of my interests in science, research, and the human element of care. When it came time to apply, I wanted to attend a genetic counseling program that would emphasize these elements in equal measure. The ScM in Genetic Counseling, which is a part of HBS, is a rigorous program that does not sacrifice any of these components of genetic counseling training. They are really invested in us leaving the program as strong social science researchers, counselors, and clinicians.

Building Knowledge, Skills, and Community

What were some academic, research, or practice highlights you experienced when you were an ScM student? 

My first year of graduate training, I was a fellow the Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine at Johns Hopkins. This was a great interdisciplinary team of graduate students from the Anthropology, Philosophy, Public Health, and History of Medicine Departments. Our conversations were often humbling and perspective-shifting for me, especially during my first year of genetic counseling training.

I would also be remiss if I didn't talk a little about my thesis experience, which was born in part out of a summer rotation with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease. This was a combined clinical and research rotation, where I saw patients as part of NIAID's centralized sequencing program while also supporting an interview study with patients living with an inborn error of immunity. These interviews were very general in nature, covering patients' illness narratives, experiences with anxiety and depression, and strategies for adapting to their illness. We also asked a few brief questions about reproductive planning, which later informed the development of my thesis. 

Another important part of my thesis process was my committee. In addition to Morgan Similuk, the genetic counselor and PI for NIAID's study, I had an amazing committee including Jill Owczarzak (my advisor), Leila Jamal, and Rebecca Mueller from Penn's Bioethics department. Jill really championed my prior interest in medical anthropology and bringing this work in conversation with my data. A standout class during my time in HBS was Jill's ethnographic methods class, which wasn't required for my degree but afforded me the opportunity to underscore my interest in an area of social science research that few genetic counselors are exposed to.

How did you build your sense of community during your time as an HBS student?

The genetic counseling ScM program is tiny! My cohort was the largest in our program's history, with seven students. We got very close over time, both with our cohort as well as the cohorts above and below us. I also have a close community of friends in Massachusetts who I remain very connected to and used Bumble BFF to make some friends outside of the Hopkins bubble. Building community matters a lot to me!

And of course, my fiancé, who I met shortly after I moved to Baltimore for grad school, has been a huge support and source of community for me, and I am very thankful for them!

Outside of public health, what are some of your hobbies, interests, and personal passions? T

The arts are still a huge outlet for me. During grad school I was involved with Tendon, the medical humanities journal at Johns Hopkins, and I like to take advantage of the free museums in the city (including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters) and creative events in Baltimore. In the last year, I've gotten especially into experimental forms of expression, like contact improvisation and experimental music performance.

Transitioning to Post-Graduate Life

What was your experience like navigating life after graduating from HBS?

I am a few months out from graduation and really settling into the role of early-career genetic counselor! I ultimately followed my continuing interest in research and was fortunate to secure a position as a research genetic counselor with the Telomere Center at Johns Hopkins. We are a translational research lab focused on understanding the role of telomeres in disease. 

In my role as a genetic counselor for the team, I support the enrollment of individuals affected by, or suspected to be affected by, telomere disorders. This work includes day-to-day operations like consenting participants and interpreting genetic variants, but also broader gene discovery efforts and clinical management considerations. Long-term, I am hoping to have a role in clinician education on these conditions as well as involvement in research on genetic counseling considerations for telomere syndromes.

What professional, educational, or other opportunities have you been pursuing since graduating from HBS?

The reality is that even the most rigorous genetic counseling program cannot account for the myriad dimensions of genetic medicine. I am excited to be attending a short course in mammalian and human genetics this summer, where I'll get to learn alongside Hopkins medical genetics residents and genetics PhD students about experimental genetics. 

Outside of my work, I am also actively planning the dissemination activities for my graduate thesis, which explored reproductive planning considerations for patients living with inborn errors of immunity, which are another set of rare diseases that impact the immune system. I'll be presenting my thesis at ELSIcon this summer and will hopefully (fingers crossed) be submitting my thesis to a journal soon.

How did you find and land your role?

My partner and I knew that we wanted to stay in Baltimore (he is developing a zero-waste cooperative in the city). I knew specifically that I wanted to work in a research-related role. I was drawn to the idea of working with individuals affected by a rare condition for which we were still developing our clinical understanding and expertise. 

My position had been open for some time, and I reached out a few months before graduating just to see if they'd consider a December 2023 grad.

What advice do you have for prospective or current public health students?

Follow your curiosity, even if it takes you down unexpected paths! When I look at where I am now, it is leagues away from where I thought I would have landed were you to talk to me 10 years ago. At each turn I have grown and come to know myself in profound ways that I may not have if my path were to look a little more linear and conventional. 

In a similar vein, do not be afraid to challenge dominant narratives within your profession or public health in general. Some of my most meaningful developments as a genetic counselor and researcher came from moments where I listened to the feeling that a dominant narrative didn't feel “right" or like it accounted appropriately for the complexity of human experience. It is these moments where it has felt like the tools and knowledge my training gave me really got to be put into action.

Is there anything else about your public health journey that you'd like to add? 

There are only a few genetic counseling programs nationally which are housed within schools of public health. I do not think I had a full sense of the value that this perspective lends to genetic counseling practice! 

The work I am doing now makes full use of the skills I developed as an HBS student, and in the areas where I am intellectually stretched, I feel I have the capacity to learn and grow from this reaching because of my education in public health. In that sense, I think public health training is fundamentally the start, and not the end, of a fulfilling intellectual and professional journey that may not always be clear-cut at the start. If you can embrace that uncertainty, you'll be in for an exciting and meaningful ride.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Views expressed are the subject's own.