CREATION OF THE LATIN AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY FOR GENETIC COUNSELING (SPLAGEN)
In the midst of the pandemic, Latin American members of the Minority Genetics Professional Network (MGPN) came together to find ways to increase awareness about our genetic counseling community for Hispanic Heritage Month. During this meeting, a project was proposed to help facilitate connections between genetic providers in Latin America and local families at risk of suffering from genetic diseases. This project idea was proposed by Brenda Zuniga, CGC, and Laurie Simone, CGC. The initial result of this project was to discover that out of 126 members of MGPN, together we only knew 30 suppliers from the 33 countries of Latin America. This deficiency in our community in terms of our understanding of the state of the genetic profession in Latin America. Through this project, several people began to think of ways to (1) connect with professionals working in genetics, (2) understand how genetic counseling is practiced, and (3) contribute to the genetic field in Latin America. The discussion on these issues among MGPN members was undoubtedly motivated by the strong connection we feel with the countries, communities and cultures of our heritage.
Many conversations took place and came to provide direction and the necessary impetus for Laurie Simone, Daniela Díaz Caro and Amanda de León, to begin to formulate the best way to support the field of genetic counseling in Latin America. Our first step in achieving this goal was to establish a name: Latin American Professional Society for Genetic Counseling (Splagen). We then established our mission, which is to promote knowledge of and access to genetic counseling services in Latin America. We plan to achieve these objectives through the promotion of education, promotion, research, networking and public policies on genetic counseling. It was imperative that we establish an organizational structure that would ensure adequate decision-making in line with the objectives of Splagen and at the same time prioritize the interests of genetic providers in Latin America.
