Samantha Baxter

Samantha Baxter is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at MGH Institute of Health Professions, where she teaches in the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling program. She also works as a Senior Clinical Genomics Specialist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard's Center for Mendelian Genomics, focusing on novel gene discovery and variant interpretation. With 12 years of experience in clinical and research laboratories, her expertise spans cardiovascular genetics, post-mortem testing, and IT-facilitated genomic data sharing.

• BS, Behavioral Neuroscience, Lehigh University
• MS, Genetic Counseling, Boston University School of Medicine

Her research emphasizes genomic sequencing, data infrastructure, and clinical applications through publications on BRCA variant databases, patient matching tools, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy diagnostics. Key contributions include the development of the matchbox open-source platform for genomic data exchange.

Scientific Awards:

• New Leader Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors (2012)

She actively participates in professional leadership as a chair of multiple NSGC Special Interest Groups and served on the NSGC Board of Directors. Her work bridges clinical genomics and bioinformatics to improve genetic diagnosis and counseling workflows.