How inclusion of genetic counselors on the research team can benefit translational science

Translational research in medicine is necessarily a team-based endeavor, and, indeed, translational research teams often include researchers from many different disciplines. We outline some of the practical challenges that are particularly salient to translational research, both for scientists and study participants, and propose that genetic counselors--a group of specialty-trained health care professionals who are as yet only infrequently recruited to collaborate in translational research teams--could contribute a unique perspective and skill set that would be invaluable in the effective navigation of these challenges. We propose that collaboration with genetic counselors could not only benefit individual translational research teams but also potentially help shift the research agenda for translational medicine.