Beth Pitel, Development Technologist in Mayo Clinic Genomics Laboratory, Receives High Praise at CGC Annual Meeting

Beth Pitel, CG(ASCP)

Beth Pitel, CG(ASCP), Development Technologist I in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) Genomics Laboratory, presented “Introduction to Publically Available Knowledge Bases to Aid Interpretation of Genomic Findings in Oncology” at the 2017 Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC) Annual Meeting, and it was met with high praise. Now, her presentation is available as a video tutorial on CGC’s YouTube channel.

“Beth’s talk received the highest praise at the 2017 CGC Annual Meeting, and this video recording is just as outstanding . . . . This presentation will serve as a valuable resource,” CGC President Alan Lennon, Ph.D., FACMG, wrote in an email.

Hutton Kearney, Ph.D.

As part of the Genomics of Oncology Annotation Team (GOATs), Pitel and others in the Genomics Laboratory work to curate data to support the clinical relevance of genomic alterations in cancer. This project supports appropriate clinical reporting of whole-genome surveys, such as genomic microarrays. Pitel said that part of this research includes “deep dives” into available literature and publically available knowledge bases. Stemming from this work, Pitel created teaching materials to help raise awareness of the utility of these publically available resources, and from there, it evolved with the help of Hutton Kearney, Ph.D., into the CGC presentation, 13 tutorials, and Pitel’s voiceover presentation now available on YouTube. The Center for Individualized Medicine sponsored flash drives for Pitel and the team to use at the CGC meeting.

According to Dr. Kearney, Beth Pitel’s presentation is just the “tip of the iceberg” of the work she has done:

Beth put untold hours into locating and mastering a wide variety of knowledge/database resources to aid in our recognition of genes and regions important in neoplasia. In collaboration with each knowledge-base group, she produced extensive teaching materials for Mayo and for our external cytogenomic colleagues. Not only did she elevate our internal practice at Mayo Clinic, Beth has built a strong collegial foundation and reputation in national and international circles. I cannot stress enough how proud I am of Beth and how well she continues to represent Mayo.

The aims of the overall project are to facilitate use of the resources and to stimulate collaboration and sharing of data and knowledge in order to advance the field of cancer genomics.

View Pitel’s voiceover video presentation here.

Molly Dee

Molly Larsen is the Web Content Coordinator at Mayo ClinicLaboratories. She is responsible for internal and external communications pertaining to the website and information technology, as well as editing content on MayoClinicLabs.com. She has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2015. Outside of work, Molly enjoys working out, reading, Harry Potter trivia, and spending time with her family and friends, including Seamus, the labrador/mastiff puppy.