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Kathleen Valverde, PhD, LCGC, Assistant Professor in Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Kathleen Valverde is an Assistant Professor in Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the principal investigator for two major Warren Alpert Foundation initiatives—the Alliance for Genetic Counseling Fellowship and the Career Ladder Educational Program—totaling nearly $20 million to support scholarship, training, and research advancement in genetic counseling.
A leader in the field for three decades, Dr. Valverde has directed the UPenn/Arcadia genetic counseling program since 2004 and has helped train nearly 400 genetic counselors. She previously held key roles at Sarah Lawrence College and received Arcadia University’s Professor of the Year award in 2018. Her research focuses on hereditary cancer risk, BRCA family experiences, genetic risk communication, and resiliency in mitochondrial disease—and is informed by her own BRCA‑positive family history.
Dr. Valverde has held national leadership roles, including with the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling as its founding treasurer and the Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors, and chaired Pennsylvania’s licensure committee, helping secure the state’s licensure law in 2012. In recognition of her 25 years of service, Arcadia established the Kathleen D. Valverde Scholarship to support undergraduate research.