WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Wednesday that My Gene Counsel, a digital genetic counseling company in New Haven, is “Murphy’s Innovator of the Month.” During their run as Director and Assistant Director of Yale School of Medicine's Cancer Genetic Counseling Program, respectively, Ellen Matloff and Danielle Bonadies began to notice trends in the field of genomics: many patients were having genetic testing without the involvement of a certified genetic counselor and many patients’ genetic test results were being misinterpreted. After realizing there were no existing scalable solutions to provide consumers with accurate, updating genetic information, Ellen and Danielle created My Gene Counsel.

My Gene Counsel is a digital platform that provides consumers with a way to understand and use their genetic test results. This system also provides updates to consumers who may have had testing months, years, or decades earlier, so they can learn how medical management recommendations have changed, when results were reclassified, and if they are candidates for clinical trials. My Gene Counsel recently went live with their hereditary cancer product for patients who’ve had genetic testing, and will be live with their cardiac products and health care provider products in early 2019. My Gene Counsel currently has four full-time employees and is based in New Haven.

My Gene Counsel chose to work in Connecticut because it’s a hub for genomics with several companies, labs, and schools in the state leading the charge in this area. My Gene Counsel partners with local schools and groups to spread the word about genetic counseling and testing to attract young people of diverse backgrounds into the field of genomics.

“My Gene Counsel is proof that Connecticut is home to the best innovators in the world. Ellen and Danielle are leading the way in genomics, creating a platform for folks to stay up to date on their genetic testing results, while also training the next generation of students in this growing industry. I’m happy to highlight My Gene Counsel as my Innovator of the Month, and I look forward to seeing this company continue to grow,” said Murphy.

“I feel fortunate to be an entrepreneur in the State of Connecticut, which has a rich history of genomics innovation, and a strong network of talented STEM students and colleagues from which we draw for our hires,” said Ellen Matloff, President and CEO of My Gene Counsel.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies – the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

 

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