Upcoming Webinars

Understanding Genetic Testing Results & Other Testing Implications

Date: January 21, 2026

Time: 6:00pm EDT

 
Receiving genetic testing results can raise important questions—not only about your own health, but also about your family, future care, and potential treatment options. This informative webinar is designed to help patients and families better understand what genetic testing results mean and how to navigate the next steps with clarity and confidence.
What We’ll Cover
  • Understanding Genetic Testing Results
Learn how genetic test results are interpreted and what they may (and may not) tell you about inherited cardiomyopathies.
Speaker: Cara Barnett, MS, LCGC
  • Talking With Your Family & Patient Support Resources
Guidance on sharing genetic information with relatives and accessing patient and family support resources.
Speaker: Shauna Planck, Medical Outreach Director, DCM Foundation
  • Potential Therapies: Insurance & Other Considerations
An overview of emerging therapies and important considerations related to insurance coverage and access.
Speaker: Greg Ruf, Executive Director, DCM Foundation

Featured Speaker: Cara Barnett, MS, LCGC is a licensed genetic counselor specializing in cardiovascular genetics, hearing loss, and innovative genetic service-delivery models. She has worked in both pediatric and adult academic medical centers, with research focused on cardiovascular genotype–phenotype correlations, mechanisms of heart failure, and clinical discussions surrounding emerging cardiomyopathy therapies, including gene therapy. Cara is passionate about expanding access to genetic counseling through collaborative telehealth partnerships. She is an active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Cardiovascular Genetics Special Interest Group, the NSGC CV SIG Postmortem Working Group, and the NSGC Expert Media Panel, and she serves as a biocurator with the NIH Clinical Genome Resource.

Understanding Your Genetic Variant: What It Means and How to Take Action

Date: February 18, 2026

Time: 6:00pm EDT

 
Receiving a genetic test result can raise important—and often confusing—questions. What does your specific variant actually mean? And how can connecting with others who share your variant help advance understanding, research, and care?
Brian Shirts, founder of Connect My Variant will explain why he created the platform, and describe how matching individuals with the same genetic variant can reveal meaningful insights—often indicating a 90% likelihood of a shared ancestor and strengthening evidence about a variant’s significance.
Using a real-life example, we’ll walk through:
  • How to locate your specific variant on a genetic test report
  • What a DNA change actually means (for example, when one letter in the sequence replaces another)
  • How patients and families can participate and contribute to shared knowledge
This webinar is designed for patients, families, and advocates who want clearer answers—and a more empowered path forward.
Please bring your genetic report along so you can ask questions or follow along with Brian to understand what your variant means.