Colleen Caleshu, MS

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND RWD

Colleen is clinician-scientist genetic counselor and an internationally recognized leader in cardiovascular genetics.

Colleen prioritizes research questions that help move the care of patients with genetic conditions forward. Her research has covered use of digital tools in genomic medicine, mindfulness meditation for genetic counselors, psychotherapeutic aspects of genetic counseling, interpretation of genetic and genomic tests in cardiology, and integration of genetic counselors into cardiology.

Colleen has advised multiple genetics and pharmaceutical companies on their strategy in the cardiovascular, genetic counseling, and genetic testing spaces. As one of the first genetic counselors in cardiology, Colleen developed embedded genetic counseling services within cardiology at both UCSF and Stanford. She has served as Senior Director of Research & Cardiovascular Team Lead at GeneMatters, and became Senior Director of Research at Genome Medical when the two companies merged in 2022.

Colleen is a member of the Jane Engelberg Memorial Foundation Advisor Group and has served on an American Heart Association working committee on policy recommendations for genetics in cardiology. As a member of the ClinGen Cardiovascular Domain Working Group, she worked on development of cardiomyopathy-specific variant interpretation guidance and assessment of the strength of gene-disease associations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She has also been active in the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), serving as a member of the Annual Conference Program Committee, vice-chair of the Education Committee, and chair of the Cardiovascular Genetics Special Interest Group.