A Marriage of Two Disciplines: Nancie Petrucelli’s Career in Genetic Counseling
Written by Madeleine Jepsen
When Nancie (Walden) Petrucelli, ’92, came to Hillsdale, she planned to become a veterinarian after graduation. She quickly declared her biology major and focused on achieving her goal until a well-timed class schedule opened her eyes to an entirely different career.
She took a genetics class with Professor Platt and discovered she was fascinated by the subject. “[Then] at the same time, or around the same time, because of Hillsdale’s liberal arts focus, I was also taking Psychology 101 with Dr. Ransford … and loved that class equally as much,” Petrucelli said. “So it became apparent to me that I, at that point, really was interested in finding a profession that was a marriage of those two disciplines.”
It was then that her genetics professor introduced her to the field of genetic counseling—the perfect combination of genetics and psychology that Petrucelli was looking for. She did her thesis work for her biology major on sex chromosome anomalies, which dovetailed with genetic counseling and genetic conditions, and went on to graduate school to pursue her newfound professional passion.
“But it was really genetics and psychology … taking those two courses really was a lightbulb moment for me,” she said.
In addition to her career path, Petrucelli found a close-knit community while at college. After attending a large high school, which is now a combination of three schools on a 305-acre campus, she said she had looked for a smaller college to attend and found Hillsdale.
Beyond the small class sizes and accessible professors, Petrucelli found nine friends with whom she still gets together each year.
“We meet in Florida and spend a long weekend, and that all stems from the relationship we built while there at Hillsdale,” she said.
Petrucelli recalled with a laugh how long ago her time at Hillsdale was. Now she serves as the senior genetic counselor at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in the Greater Detroit area and teaches genetic counseling classes at Wayne State University.
Though her time as a Hillsdale student is a somewhat distant memory, Petrucelli has not stopped learning. As a teacher, she said she often learns just as much from her students as they do from her. As a professional in a rapidly-evolving field, Petrucelli must keep abreast of new developments.
“I’m committed to lifelong learning,” she said. “I feel like this profession requires you to constantly be learning. They are discovering new genes all the time, so what I was counseling patients and families about just a couple of years ago has already changed because we know of more genes related to cancer.”
Looking back now, Petrucelli said her undergraduate education paved the way for her career in genetic counseling.
“I think the size of my education at Hillsdale allowed me to build confidence to enter a field that, for some, can be a little controversial, but I really valued my interactions with professors,” she said. “The one-on-one relationships and experiences that I had were, for my personality, a good fit and allowed me to excel beyond my time at Hillsdale.”
Madeleine Jepsen, ‘18, studies biochemistry and journalism. Outside the classroom, Madeleine serves as a reporter and assistant editor for the Collegian. She is also involved in Catholic Society.