Jacquelyn Giang was born and raised in San Jose, California. She previously worked with the Burgess lab as a student researcher while attending UC Davis. She researched the effects of genetic disorders on the embryonic development of zebrafish and the transcription orientation patterns across several model organisms. During college, she also volunteered at the UC Davis MIND Institute as a Social Skills Parent Group co-leader, helping parents of children diagnosed with autisn spectrum disorder connect with one another.
After graduating college, Jacquelyn spent over a year working as an ABA behavior technician, providing one-on-one lessons for children with ASD to nurture social and motor skills. Through these sessions, she developed skills in non-traditional communication methods, including PECS and interpreting body language for nonverbal pediatric patients.
Combining her valuable experiences supporting patients diagnosed with ASD and passion for genetics, Jacquelyn worked as a genetic counselor assistant with the Cancer Predisposition Clinic at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for over a year. Here, she shadowed the clinic's genetic counselors and hematologists/oncologists, collected family history for referrals, prepared genetic testing orders and sample collection kits, and read out negative results. She was also a research coordinator, consenting patients for the Childhood Cancer Predisposition Study and tracking abnormalities found on surveillance measures for enrolled patients.
In her free time, Jacquelyn loves trying new cuisines with family and friends, reading, playing video games, building mechanical keyboards, and watching adorable animal videos. Excited to join the Emory Genetic Counseling Training Program, Jacquelyn hopes to continue advocating for patients of different disorders and their families. She welcomes prospective students to reach out with any questions.