Johanna L. Schmidt, MPH, LCGC
My journey began in 2004 when I started my Master's in Public Health at the University of Michigan. My training in Health Behavior and Health Education, in combination with my interest in genetics and genomics led me to concentrate my studies in Public Health Genomics. Upon graduation, I joined the elite group of researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) in the Social and Behavioral Research Branch. There, I provided research assistance to top-notch scientists and learned a tremendous amount about the process of social science research. I then decided I wanted to work directly with people in a clinical setting, and completed a Master's degree in Genetic Counseling at the University of Maryland. My academic studies prepared me well to then take on a job as a research and clinical counselor in the Department of Neurology at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. I had the privilege of working with families of children with neurologic genetic conditions, helping them through the process of diagnosis and to participate in research studies that would lead to new gene discovery, and will, hopefully, lead to better treatments and cures.
I have more than 24 published papers in peer-reviewed medical journals and have had work presented at conferences worldwide. I am board certified in Genetic Counseling by the American Board of Genetic Counselors.
I moved to the Los Angeles area in 2013.