The Genetic Conference Circuit: A GC’s Guide to NSGC, ACMG, and ASHG
By Blake Vuocolo, MS, CGC
National genetics conferences, such as NSGC, ACMG, and ASHG, are a great way to build professional networks, share your research, and stay abreast of updates in the genetics field. However, there are so many conference options, and GCs often do not have the luxury of attending all of them. These limitations may leave you questioning which conference would be right for you to attend. Question no more! Over the last two years, I have had the opportunity to attend these three genetic conferences. This is your guide to all things genetics conferences – from the content and the speakers to the vibe and parties.
National Society of Genetic Counselors
The first major conference I attended was the NSGC 2022 conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I loved the laid-back, welcoming vibe and seeing so many familiar faces. Several genetic counselors have compared going to NSGC conferences to the comfortable feeling of going home, which I agree with. It is wonderful to be in a space where genetic counselors are celebrated. As a new grad and aspiring full-time research genetic counselor, it was helpful to see the different ways genetic counselors can be incorporated into diverse research projects and settings. One of the biggest benefits of NSGC is the sheer number of CEUs that are available to claim – I ended up with almost double the number of CEUs from NSGC compared to ACMG and ASHG. Content-wise, I felt many of the talks had a heavier focus on psychosocial concepts and counseling. At times, I desired more science-focused talks about advancements in technologies or understanding of diseases. Nashville itself was a great time, and the sponsored rodeo party was a nice way to catch up with colleagues and old classmates.
American College of Medical Genetics
I then attended ACMG in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2023. I absolutely loved ACMG 2023 –the content was diverse, emphasizing considerations in the ELSI of genomics, advancements in clinical care, and introductions to new technologies. I also really enjoyed that ACMG incorporated different presentation styles into their programming, such as Ted Talk-style platform presentations and Diagnostic Challenges sessions where complex and/or unknown cases are presented and the audience makes suggestions for further evaluations or proposed diagnoses. After such a wonderful experience in 2023, I signed up to attend ACMG in 2024 in Toronto. This time around, I felt slightly less enthusiastic about the content. There were several platforms with similar concepts being discussed and I missed the varied programming from the 2023 meeting. However, I did appreciate many of the talks, particularly one that provided a detailed overview of dysmorphology in physical exams and a panel that discussed long-read sequencing in detail. Additionally, there was a great talk about body image, conception, and fertility in women with disabilities. Both times I attended the ACMG meeting, I had a lovely group of genetic counselors from Baylor College of Medicine to spend time with during the days and after sessions ended. In Toronto, we attended a party in the CN Tower (10/10 experience) and went on a food tour where we ended up in the rain (overall 4/10 experience, soggy TimBits were 10/10 though). Overall, I will say that the majority of ACMG attendees are clinical geneticists and researchers. The vibe of ACMG felt slightly more professional, and I think that ACMG could do better at making genetic counselors feel more welcome. For example, ACMG funds awards for various trainees and members, but rather than funding the genetic counselor award, they asked the crowd for donations to help fund the award. The two conference locations were beautiful – but brutally cold in March. I want to petition for warm-weather-only locations in the future! One other observation I noticed was that ACMG does a really great job feeding the attendees. The meals and snacks they provided throughout the day was an appreciated detail that helped me get through the long conference days.
American Society of Human Genetics
ASHG exceeded my expectations. Before attending in 2023, I was concerned that it was going to be entirely too technical, but this was not the case. ASHG is HUGE- there were over 8,000 people in attendance from 77 countries, which contributed to the diverse content presented throughout. Interestingly, however, only 133 of the 8000 attendees were genetic counselors. We are drastically underrepresented at this conference, particularly in the poster presentation sections. Many of the GCs’ work ended up in the poster sections that had the least number of abstracts, and thus we were separated from many of the more technical posters and sandwiched between two aisles of the exhibitor booths. However, what I loved about ASHG was that they developed “tracks” with suggestions for which platforms to attend depending on your background/interests. Genetic counseling was one of these tracks, and I think they did a great job curating a schedule that included some talks that were more ELSI/counseling-focused and others that were more basic science/lab/clinic-focused. Because of these tracks, I felt that I avoided the ever-so-common conference feeling of wanting to see several talks in the same time slot. There were some wonderful panels about genomic implementation considerations in underserved areas that inspired me to consider ways in which I can design more sustainable and culturally sensitive projects in the future. I strongly feel that every GC should try to attend ASHG once, especially if they are involved in research or interested in getting into research. Another plus was that the ASHG Gala featured Francis Collins’ band – incredible.
Despite the benefits of attending conferences, they can be EXHAUSTING and many of us are on a budget. Of course, my experiences may differ from others, but here is a summary of some of my thoughts:
Best content: This one goes to ASHG - I really loved the idea of a GC track. ACMG 2023 was also great, but I did not love 2024’s content, so it may not be consistent. Overall, I would recommend looking at the content for the conferences you are thinking of attending and ensuring that the programmed material is something you are interested in. There is nothing worse than being trapped at a 5-day conference listening to lectures you do not care about!
Best CEU offerings for your buck: Definitely NSGC for this one. I ended up with ~26 CEUS at NSGC, compared to ~15 credits at the other two.
Best place to make connections: I felt that I made the best professional connections at ACMG, although I think this is because of my research interests. The diversity in attendees at ACMG allowed me to form research collaborations across specialties. However, I can imagine that NSGC would have the best connections in terms of job opportunities and GC-focused clinical/research collaborations.
Of course, these are a few of the numerous international, national, and regional genetics conferences. Depending on your clinical focus, a genetics-specific conference may not be the best fit, and I encourage you to ask colleagues about what other conferences may benefit your professional development. If you have only ever been to NSGC, I hope this guide has inspired you to branch out to another conference in the upcoming years!!