Clara Serra

Genetic counselor

Vall d’Hebron University Hospital

Clara Serra got her degree in Human Biology at Pompeu Fabra University. She studied a Master in Clinical Laboratory and the Master in Genetic Counselling (idEC-UPF) at the first promotion. She did her Doctoral Thesis entitled “Genomic, genetic and epigenetic alterations in congenital malformations: implications in genetic counseling” at the Genetics Unit, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (UPF) under the supervision of Prof. Luis A. Perez-Jurado. During her thesis she did an internship in exome sequencing at Genomic Disorders Group, Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Hoischen and Dr. Joris Veltman. As after the thesis she continued working in high throughput technologies, she studied a Postgraduate diploma in Bioinformatics (UOC) specialized in omics data analysis.

Her main interests in research are the identification of genetic and epigenetic aberrations in the etiopathogenesis of congenital malformations, as well as genetic counselling related to these techniques. She also took part in a research project that aimed to integrate new technologies in prenatal setting. More recently, in collaboration with Professor Jesús Argente (Hospital Niño Jesús, Madrid) she has also been involved in the study of severe early-onset obesity, analyzing genomic rearrangements, genetic and epigenetic variants and developing a pooled DNA sequencing using NGS in order to study large cohorts of patients with the disease. She has published 22 original articles in international peer-reviewed journals.

She has a broad experience as a Genetic counsellor and, in 2016, she obtained the European Registration as a Genetic Counsellor. She was one of the founders of the Spanish Society of Genetic Counselling and was the President of the Society. She is Co- Chair of the European Board of Medical Genetics, Genetic Nurses and Genetics Counsellors Division and member of the Transnational Alliance for Genetic Counselling, representing Spain. She is currently working in the Genetic Service in Vall d’Hebron Hospital as a Genetic Counsellor.

She has been Associate Professor at Pompeu Fabra University for 5 years and she is currently Academic Coordinator of the Master in Medical Genetics at Automòma University in Barcelona.