Meet Our Team

Jennifer Young, PhD, MS, MA

Dr. Jennifer Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Science at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a faculty member in the Center for Genetic Medicine and leads psychosocial education and research for the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling. Dr. Young holds a PhD in Family Science and an MS in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. Dr. Young also completed MA from The Ohio State University in East Asian Languages and Literature.

Dr. Young has been working in the realm of psychosocial genetics for over ten years starting with her pre-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute’s Clinical Genetics Branch. Dr. Young completed a T32 postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics focused on the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) of genetic and genomic technologies. Dr. Young’s research program is centers health equity in genomics research and clinical genetics practice. She founded the BRIGHT (Bridging Research in Genetics and Health Equity Transformation) lab which scientifically focuses on mental health resources for families with rare or undiagnosed medical conditions and addressing barriers to genetic services for historically marginalized groups using implementation science. Her current work advocating for the inclusion of Asian American populations in genomics research was recently funded by an NIH K01 Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award titled “A Community-Engaged Approach to ALDH2 Genetic Testing in East Asian Americans.” Dr. Young’s work has been published in Nature Genetics and she has an active partnership with the Chinese American Service League (CASL) that serves Chicago’s Chinatown and beyond. 

BRIGHT Team Members