Faculty Information

Dr. Kathleen Arnos is a medical geneticist and Professor of Biology at Gallaudet University.  She directs the research, clinical and educational activities of the Gallaudet Genetics Program, which she established in 1983.  She is Principal Investigator and Co-investigator of NIH-funded grants to identify genes for deafness and examine the societal impact of advances in genetic testing for deafness.  She was previously Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Summer Institute in Genetics for Audiology Faculty and continues to provide many educational programs on the topic of genetics and deafness.  She obtained a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the Medical College of Virginia.

Ginger Norris is a genetic counselor at Gallaudet University and the coordinator for the Gallaudet Genetics Clinic.  She is responsible for providing genetic counseling and coordinating follow-up for deaf and hard of hearing clients.  Additionally, she is the research coordinator of two NIH-funded research studies.  She obtained her Master's of Genetic Counseling degree from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Walter Nance has had a distinguished career as a human geneticist, investigating the clinical, epidemiological, molecular and ethical aspects of hereditary deafness.  In the early 1970's, he first collaborated with the Gallaudet Office of Demographic Studies to perform an epidemiologic study of causes of deafness.  Since that time he has been the Principal Investigator of numerous NIH-funded grants to study hearing loss and has been actively involved in research and clinical work at Gallaudet, together with Dr. Kathleen Arnos.  He has authored dozens of research papers, book chapters and monographs on the topic of hereditary deafness and has trained numerous PhD students and physicians during his long and productive career.

Dr. Arti Pandya is a pediatric geneticist at the Medical College of Virginia who has identified hereditary deafness as her major research interest.  She is the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator for two NIH-funded projects to map novel genes for hereditary deafness and to examine the societal impact of advances in genetic testing for deafness.  Her current work focuses on the study of connexin 26 mutations and establishing genotype-phenotype correlations and the establishment of a pilot project for newborn screening of hereditary deafness using molecular strategies.  For the past eight years, she has been a clinical consultant for the Gallaudet University genetics program.