The GENEius Challenge affords geneticists and genetic counselors in training an opportunity to compete for fun, prize money and a trophy while attending the Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Future members of the genetics team, currently enrolled in a training program are invited to participate in the challenge. The GENEius Challenge will be in a Jeopardy-style format, with an online Knowledge Quiz to pre-qualify contestants for participation in the game. The top nine contestants will be invited to go head-to-head in one of three live Jeopardy-style qualifying rounds. The winner of each qualifying round will compete in the final round to determine the winner of the 2026 GENEius Challenge Award. 

Contestants
The sign up to compete in the GENEius Challenge will be open in December. The Challenge will be announced in an email from ACMG and on social media. Prospective contestants will be required to complete the online Knowledge Quiz in January 2026. The top nine scoring participants in the quiz will be invited to compete in the Challenge during the Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Participation is in person only.

The Topics
Questions in the challenge are structured in sets of 5 themed questions around an aspect of genetics. The questions in each set increase in difficulty according to the number of points awarded. 

Online Knowledge Quiz

Sign up to enter the contest in December
Contestants will receive an email with details for completing the online Knowledge Quiz at the beginning of January. The quiz will be open during the month of January 2026. 

  • Each contestant will take the test individually without assistance.
  • The quiz will consist of 25 questions to be completed in 30 minutes.
  • Any unanswered or skipped question will count as an incorrect answer.
  • Scores will be determined based on the number of questions answered correctly and the amount of time used. The nine top-scoring individuals will be invited to participate in the GENEius Challenge during the meeting in Baltimore.
  • All scores are confidential. 

ACMG does not authorize any copying, reproduction, disclosing, or otherwise sharing of any GENEius Challenge questions or related content.

Qualifying Rounds

The nine contestants with the best scores in the Online Knowledge Quiz will be invited to participate in the GENEius Challenge during the annual meeting in Baltimore. 

  • Each contestant will compete in one qualifying round
  • Qualifying rounds will be in live Jeopardy-style format
  • Qualifying rounds will take place on:
    Wednesday, March 11 at 6:00 pm
    Thursday, March 12 at 3:30 pm
    Friday, March 13 at 12:00 pm
  • The qualifying rounds will take place in the Learning Lounge in the Exhibit Hall.

GENEius Challenge

GENEius Challenge Finale

GENEius


The grand finale! The three semi-finalists will participate in the Championship round onstage in the plenary session room. The final challenge will take place on Saturday, March 14th. All contestants must participate IN PERSON.

 GENEius Challenge winner

Quiz Prizes

Cash prizes will be awarded based on contestant performance in the live GENEius Challenge competition in Baltimore.

$500                                                                            $1,000
Each semi-finalist                                                      Challenge Champion