Ronald J. Wapner, MD

Jessica Giordano, a New York native, completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at Boston College and her Master of Science in Human Genetics/Genetic Counseling at Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 2008. After graduation, Jessica worked in the public hospital system in the Bronx providing reproductive genetic counseling to patients at Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital. She subsequently worked at Weill Cornell in reproductive genetic counseling for four years before joining Columbia's Department of Ob/Gyn in 2014. Jessica is an ABGC board-certified genetic counselor with a passion for reproductive genomic medicine, working in clinical, research, and industry-related settings. In her clinical work, she has witnessed how non-invasive aneuploidy screening, diagnostic testing via microarray, and pan-ethnic screening has transformed prenatal practice, making complex genetics test part of primary obstetrical practice. Recently, she successfully led Columbia’s fetal exome sequencing study published in Lancet, the stillbirth exome study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and is the primary manager for the NICHD multi-center study PrenatalSEQ, aiming to study the use of genomic sequencing in pregnancy to change post-natal management. In these research roles, she consents patients, curates variants, and assesses genotype-phenotype correlations with the goal of ultimately communicating results to patients to impact decision-making and clinical management. Additionally, Jessica has been integral to the recent development and launch of Columbia’s Genetic Counseling Graduate Program and currently serves as a course director and scholarly projector mentor to their graduate students.

Dr. Baptiste is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) physician and Medical Geneticist within the Department of Ob/Gyn. She cares for families with genetic disease throughout their reproductive years. Her clinical and research interests include preconception counseling for genetic disorders, care for people with genetic disorders during pregnancy and pregnancies with a genetic diagnosis. Dr. Baptiste performs prenatal diagnostic procedures including chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis. Dr. Baptiste graduated from medical school at Emory University School of Medicine. She completed residency in Ob/Gyn and subspecialty fellowship training in Maternal Fetal Medicine and Medical Genetics and Genomics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Baptiste has presented at national conferences and published several peer-reviewed research manuscripts and book chapters related to reproductive genetics, clinical obstetrics, and fetal diagnosis. Dr. Baptiste is a fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics and a member of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Sheila D. Rustgi is a gastroenterologist with a special interest in the prevention and early detection of gastrointestinal cancers. After graduating from Yale University with a degree in Economics, she completed her medical degree, internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she served as Chief Fellow during her final year. Dr. Rustgi has published on the care of patients with pancreatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and the impact of health insurance on patient care. Dr. Rustgi's clinical interests include the care of patients at high risk for gastrointestinal cancer due to an inherited cancer syndrome, colon cancer screening, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and general GI diagnoses such as IBS. Dr. Rustgi joined the faculty of the Division of Digestive and Liver Disease in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2020.