Avni Santani, PhD

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Get to know Clinical Geneticist Dr. Avni Santani, who serves patients in Danvers, Massachusetts. 

An experienced clinical geneticist, Dr. Santani has been the Chief Medical Officer of Veritas Genetics since July of 2020.

There, she is responsible for the strategy, direction, and execution of the company’s clinical development plans and medical affairs. Under her leadership, the multi-disciplinary programs at Veritas include SARS CoV-2 diagnostic testing, pooled testing for schools, antibody testing, consumer genomics, and diagnostic genetic testing programs. 

A global executive, Dr. Santani has deep experience in the biopharma sector ranging from rare disease diagnostics, autism, newborn screening, whole genome sequencing, and precision medicine programs. She is also passionate about supporting women in leadership and creating doors of access for people around health, education, and leadership.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Santani graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai in 1998. She then went on to earn her Master’s degree in Medical Molecular Genetics from the University of Aberdeen in 2001, and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from Texas A&M University in 2004.

Furthering her training, she performed her residency in clinical molecular genetics within the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Prior to joining Veritas, Dr. Santani was most recently the Director of Clinical Laboratories at the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Actively involved with several national and international organizations, she is an active member of the College of American Pathologists, the Association for Molecular Pathology, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, and the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, among others.

Furthermore, she is board-certified in clinical genetics and genomics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG). The mission of the ABMGG is to serve the public and medical profession by establishing professional certification standards and promoting lifelong learning as well as excellence in medical genetics and genomics.

Medical genetics is the branch of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Clinical geneticists are medical doctors who specialize in treating and diagnosing conditions that have a genetic origin.

Dr. Santani’s work in the area of clinical genomics led to her receiving the Innovator of the Year Award (2015) by the Philadelphia Business Journal and Outstanding Contributions to the Prevention of Birth Defects Award by the National China Gene Bank. 

On a more personal note, she speaks multiple languages, including English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, and Sindhi.

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