Chang Lab

Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research and Care at UCLA
Chang Lab

710 Westwood Plaza, Room 3-155
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769
Email: AriadnaMartinez@mednet.ucla.edu

Biography

Ariadna Martinez is a bilingual (Spanish and English) board-certified genetic counselor with experience providing services to diverse patient populations in various clinical areas and work settings. Ariadna began her genetic counseling career as a prenatal genetic counselor at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center. Ariadna then worked at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute as a genetic counselor and research coordinator for genetic studies working with parents of deaf/hard of hearing children as well as deaf/hard of hearing adults. Ariadna then spent several years as a clinical genetic counselor and study manager at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute with a focus on inherited retinal conditions. Ariadna subsequently joined the cardiogenetics program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, serving individuals and families with various inherited cardiovascular conditions. Ariadna transitioned to working in industry, initially at Ambry Genetics, working on variant interpretation and report writing. Ariadna then joined Invitae Corporation, where she provided clinical support to ordering providers throughout the genetic testing process, telehealth post-test genetic counseling in multiple clinical areas, including neurodegenerative conditions, and led the Genetic Counseling Services Ophthalmology/Deafness subteam. Ariadna is licensed in several states, including California, and is a member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Minority Genetics Professional Network, Southern California Genetic Counselors. Ariadna has a Master’s Degree in Human Genetics from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Genetic Counseling from California State University, Northridge.

Affiliations

Chang Lab

ADRC - Biomarker Core

Awards and Honors

Bachelor of Science, Cell and Molecular Genetics, California State University, Northridge

Master of Science, Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles

Master of Science, Genetic Counseling, California State University, Northridge

Publications

Ortube MC, Strom SP, Nelson SF, Nusinowitz S, Martinez A, Gorin MB. Whole exome sequencing detects homozygosity for ABCA4 p.Arg602Trp missense mutation in a pediatric patient with rapidly progressive retinal dystrophy. BMC Med. Genet., 2014;15(1): page 11.

Strom SP, Gao YQ, Martinez A, Ortube C, Chen Z, Nelson SF, Nusinowitz S, Farber DB, Gorin MB. Molecular diagnosis of putative Stargardt Disease probands by exome sequencing. BMC Med. Genet. 2012 Aug 3;13:67

Palmer CG, Martinez A, Fox M, Zhou J, Shapiro N, Sininger Y, Grody WW, Schimmenti LA. A prospective, longitudinal study of the impact of GJB2/GJB6 genetic testing on the beliefs and attitudes of parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing infants. Am. J. Med. Genet. 149A(6):1169-82.

Palmer CG, Martinez A, Fox M, Sininger Y, Grody WW, Schimmenti LA. Ethnic differences in parental perceptions of genetic testing for deaf infants. J. Genet. Couns. 2008 Feb;17(1):129-138.

Schimmenti LA, Martinez A, Telatar M, Lai CH, Shapiro N, Fox M, Warman B, McCarra M, Crandall B, Sininger Y, Grody WW, Palmer CG. Infant hearing loss and connexin testing in a diverse population. Genetics in Medicine, 10(7):517-524.

Blase T, Martinez A, Grody WW, Schimmenti L, Palmer CG. Sharing GJB2/GJB6 genetic test information with family members. J. Genet. Couns. 6(3):313-324.

Martinez, A, Linden, J, Schimmenti, LA, and Palmer, CG. Attitudes of the broader hearing, deaf, and hard-of-hearing community toward genetic testing for deafness. Genetics in Medicine, 5(2):106-112.