Analysis of Noninvasive Prenatal Testing and Pharmacogenomic Testing

In this episode we are learning about UNITY Screen non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for recessive conditions. Joining our host Kira Dineen are two experts from BillionToOne, the CEO Oguzhan Atay and the Senior Director of Medical Affairs, Jen Hoskovec. Stay tuned for our part two about their new fetal antigen NIPT!

Oguzhan Atay, PhD, BillionToOne co-founder, has led the company since its inception and raised more than $200M in funding including from venture capital funds and investors who previously invested in tech companies such as SpaceX, Box, Spotify, Palantir, Braintree, and biotech companies such as Counsyl, WebMD, and Omada Health! Oguzhan received his PhD from Stanford University, where his work was published on the Cover of Cell Systems. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University with a bachelor’s in molecular biology and minors in physics, computer science, and applied mathematics.

Jennifer Hoskovec, MS, CGC, joined BillionToOne as the Senior Director of Medical Affairs in July 2020. As a certified genetic counselor with over 17 years of clinical experience, Jen is committed to ensuring patients and providers are supported and educated about the options and utility of prenatal testing. Jen joined BillionToOne after 17 years as a prenatal genetic counselor at UTHealth where she led a team of genetic counselors providing patient care in MFM clinics across the city of Houston. Jen has extensive volunteer and leadership experience within national societies such as American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and National Society of Genetic Counselors. She served as president of NSGC in 2014. Jen earned her MS in genetic counseling from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Truman State University.

On this episode we discuss:

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT)

What is UNITY Screen and why the name UNITY?

Recessive conditions included in UNITY Screen

Information included in a UNITY NIPT report

Test specificity and sensitivity differences between ethnicities

How typical carrier screening flows work differently with UNITY

Why it is helpful to have information regarding the chance a pregnancy is affected by a recessive condition

BillionToOne’s plans to include more recessive conditions in UNITY Screen

To stay up to date with the latest developments at BillionToOne, follow them on Twitter, facebook and LinkedIn. You can also connect with our guest, Jen Hoskovec on Twitter.

Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on February 24th, 2023 where we continue this NIPT discussion with Jen Hoskovec focusing on screening for antigens. New episodes are released every Friday. In the meantime, you can binge over 220 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel.

DNA Today is hosted and produced by Kira Dineen. Our social media lead is Corinne Merlino. Our video lead is Amanda Andreoli. Our outreach Intern is Sanya Tinaikar. Our Social Media Intern is Kajal Patel. And our Graphic Designer Ashlyn Enokian.

See what else we are up to on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and our website, DNAToday.com. Questions/inquiries can be sent to info@DNAtoday.com.

If you’ve been listening to DNA Today for a while, you probably know I am also a full time prenatal genetic counselor. Between that job, this podcast, and being a producer/host of other podcasts, I am pretty busy! To keep my energy up and stay productive I drink a decent amount of coffee. The new coffee I’m drinking is from Four Sigmatic. I’m really picky about my coffee, it’s got to be bold, not watery. And I’ve been really happy with Four Sigmatic. Here’s the difference from other coffees, it includes mushrooms, which I know sounds bizarre. I will admit I was hesitant, but you get health benefits and don’t taste it. I like the immune system boost, as I often get sick in the winter months. So we teamed up with Four SIgmatic to get you 30% off using promo code “DNATODAY” redeem it at FourSigmatic.com, again that’s FourSigmatic.com using code “DNATODAY” for 30% off! And let me know if you like it too! (Sponsored)

Which drug do you prescribe for your HER2+ cancer patients? For the first time in history TruGene Diagnostics (formerly Blueprint Diagnostics) informs you which of the 3 leading cancer drugs your patient is sensitive to and resistant to. TruGene Diagnostics knows the functional effect of EVERY mutation in the TK region of HER2 Gene. And knows the functional effect with and without the 3 most common drugs present. Thus allowing you to match the best drug to the patient. Unlock the best drug for your patients with HER2+ cancer using TruGene Diagnostics. Check it out at TruGeneDiagnostics.com. Stay tuned for our interview with them! (Sponsored)