Ms. Kalinka Tavares BA, BA Hons, MSc(Med)

Kalinka Tavares is a South African genetic counsellor registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa who currently serves at the West African Genetic Medicine Centre, University of Ghana. In this role she leads the practicum for the region’s inaugural MSc Genetic Counselling programme, designs clinical‑rotation frameworks, lectures, supervises research projects and guides community outreach. She is also the Genetic Counsellor and Project Coordinator for HI‑Genes Africa, directing participant recruitment, providing family counselling, managing data curation and developing protocols for the responsible return of genetic findings.

Her academic foundation combines psychology and medical genetics, encompassing a Bachelor of Arts and an Honours degree in Psychology, both earned with distinction, followed by an MSc (Med) in Genetic Counselling with distinction from the University of Cape Town. Clinical internships at major tertiary hospitals refined her practice across prenatal, paediatric, oncological, neurogenetic and cardiogenetic services and were complemented by professional experience in trauma counselling and applied behavioural analysis.

Tavares maintains an active research portfolio spanning hereditary visual and hearing impairments, laboratory informatics and patient perspectives in genetic care, with contributions to peer‑reviewed journals such as Clinical Genetics, Genes, Communications Biology and Journal of Molecular Pathology. She supervises postgraduate theses, develops digital learning resources and is proficient with REDCap, pedigree‑drawing software and university web platforms.

Beyond her clinical and academic commitments, she enjoys ballroom and Latin dancing, regarding dance as a universal language that fosters connection. Through this blend of clinical expertise, research activity and educational leadership, Tavares advances equitable access to genetic services while mentoring the next generation of genetic counsellors across Africa.

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