Ron is a biomedical researcher, book author and college professor, with an interesting multidisciplinary background. His original training was in Behavioural Neuroscience (PhD in 1983, Vanderbilt University). He spent 6 years as a Neuroscience researcher, then entered the field of Medical Genetics. After being certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics as a Clinical Molecular Geneticist in 1996, he spent 7 years doing genetic testing and gene discovery research, focusing on neurobehavioral disorders such as mental retardation and autism. He has now retired from the practice of medical genetics, and currently teaches Human Genetics, Biochemistry and Physiology in the Biology Department at Western Carolina University. Ron has extensive experience teaching Human Genetics to non-scientists. Most of his Human Genetics students are not science majors, and over half of them are adults in the university's Continuing Education programme. Ron has recently co-authored two other books. His first book, A Litigators Guide to DNA: From the Laboratory to the Courtroom has been adopted for use in the Law Schools at St. John's University and Hofstra University. In addition, he and his current co-author Kevin Sweet have recently published The Busy Physician's Guide To Genetics, Genomics And Personalized Medicine. Kevin is a board-certificated Genetic Counselor (American Board of Genetic Counseling), biomedical researcher, associate professor and book author. He has 17 years' of experience in prenatal, paediatric and adult genetics. After receiving his Master's of Science in Genetic Counseling at Sarah Lawrence College, he worked for five years as a genetic counsellor and educator at the Greenwood Genetic Center, and in 1999, arrived at The Ohio State University. Kevin directs the Family HealthLink project, an automated cancer and heart disease risk assessment tool. He is also heavily involved in development of personalized genomic medicine applications, and utilization of genetic counselors in the practice of genomic medicine. He is a research investigator on the OSU-Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, and is working to integrate pharmacogenomic (drug response) analysis into clinical care and the electronic medical record. Kevin is a founding member and serves as Chair of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Personalized Medicine - Special Interest Group. Previously, he directed the revision of two clinical texts; Growth References: Third Trimester to Adulthood, 2nd Edition and Counseling Aids for Geneticists, 3rd Edition, the latter the most widely used clinical genetic counseling aid in circulation. He is also a recent author, with Ron Michaelis, of the The Busy Physician's Guide to Genetics, Genomics and Personalized Health Care.
