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Company Spotlight Series: Toni Lewis
Toni Lewis, Manager of Clinical Science Liaisons at Variantyx!
My journey towards becoming a genetic counselor was not a foreseeable one. In fact, I myself didn’t know this would be my ultimate path until later in life. During my undergrad years, my family was faced with trying to understand more complex family illnesses, and I unexpectedly ended up being able to help interpret the information from the doctors to my family members. It was at this time that I started to wonder if there was a career to help patients similarly going through what my family and I were experiencing.
Following undergrad, I worked in breast cancer research where I was introduced to four amazing women who would, surprisingly, become my genetic counseling mentors and open my view to a new career path. It was through their mentoring, encouragement, and exposure to this wondrous profession that I developed the confidence to pursue my education in genetic counseling. Fast forward several years, while working on my Master’s of Science degree, I was encouraged to consider a job writing genetic testing reports. Through this nontraditional entrance into the field of genetics and genomics, I learned how I could use my understanding of the technology and testing to help a large scale of patients by educating their clinicians.
As a graduate from two dedicated HBCUs, and through my previous work with underserved populations, my goal and mission to help bring genetic testing to all patients in need, especially the underserved, is deeply ingrained. It is the scrupulous work of our growing team of variant scientists, the reliability of our motivated operations team, the eagerness of our tenacious sales team, and the backing of a growing team of dedicated genetic counselors that allows me to achieve my daily tasks. Through teamwork between departments, we are able to provide our clients, and thereby patients, with results that hopefully bring their diagnostic odysseys to an end. Variantyx allows me to fulfill my goals daily, by assisting patients in overcoming cost barriers and offering comprehensive testing that helps resolve their diagnostic journey.