Update Your ProfileAcademic Title:
Instructor
Primary Appointment:
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
Additional Title:
Genetic Counselor
Location:
345 St. Paul Place Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone (Primary):
410-951-7950
Fax:
410-951-7931
Education and Training
Master's Degree in Genetic Counseling, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2019
Biosketch
Ashlee Vargason, MGC, CGC, is a cancer genetic counselor in the Department of Obstretrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and an Instructor in the School of Medicine. Ms. Vargason received her Master's degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2019 and worked in the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center prior to joining as faculty at the University of Maryland in 2023. She primarily provides genetic counseling to adult patients in the Oncology setting at Mercy Medical Center with a variety of concerns, including a personal or family history of cancers such as breast, gynecological, colorectcal cancer or colonic polypasis, and other rare cancer types and known hereditary cancer predisposition conditions. She participates in the education and clinical supervision of the Master's in Genetic Counseling students as well as residents, fellows, and medical students at the University. Ashlee's area of special interest in clinical practice is the implementation of cancer risk reduction strategies and creating patient education tools to encourage communication of familial risks to patients and their families.
Research/Clinical Keywords
Genetic counseling, genetic testing, cancer genetics, hereditary predisposition, telegenetics, patient education, health disparities, genetic discrimination.
Highlighted Publications
Vargason, A. B., Turner, C.E., Shriver, C. D., & Ellsworth, R. E. (2021). Genetic testing in Non-Hispanic Black women with breast cancer treated withing an equal-access healthcare system. Genetics in Medicine. 2022 Jan:24(1):232-237.
Hellwig, L.D., Krokosky A., Vargason A., Turner C. Genetic counseling Considerations for Military Beneficiaries. Mil Med. 2021 Dec 30; 187(Supl 1):36-39.
Vargason, A. B., Turner, C.E., Shriver, C.D., & Ellsworth, R.E. Influence of germline test results on surgical decision making in women with invasive breast cancer. Cancer Genetics. 2022 Aug:266-267;81-85.
Research Interests
Ms. Vargason's research focus has been on the decision making process of genetic testing in order to better understand health disparities in uptake of genetic testing and how certain genetic test results may impact clinical surgical decisions. She also has experience and interest in studying how genetic testing results may impact certain patient populations such as military beneficiaries, through genetic discrimination.
Clinical Specialty Details
Ms. Vargason provides genetic counseling and risk assessment for individuals and families suspected of having hereditary cancer risks at Mercy Medical Center. She primarily counsels adult patients referred for personal and/or family history of cancer including breast, colon, ovarian, and other types of cancer suspicious for a hereditary cancer predisposition condition. She also provides genetic counseling for patients with a person or family history of a known hereditary cancer predisposition condition.