Teresa A. Smolarek, PhD, FACMG

I am a Cytogeneticist and Molecular Geneticist who loves uncovering the genomic basis of diseases and applying that knowledge into care of patients.

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology from Canisius College (now University, Buffalo, NY) and went onto to obtain my doctorate from Dr. Nyla Heerema's laboratory at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics. My research dealt with the Cytogenetic and Molecular Cytogenetic Analysis of testicular germ cell tumors. I then did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cincinnati with Dr. Anil Menon. My major research dealt with Finding the Genetic Basis for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis. I then completed consecutive fellowships in Clinical Cytogenetics and Clinical Molecular Genetics and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) where I achieved American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) certification in both Clinical Cytogenetics (2002) and Clinical Molecular Genetics (2005). I then was recruited as a faculty member at CCHMC in the Division of Human Genetics, Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics until May, 2025. While there, I also served as the Fellowship Program Director for the Clinical Cytogenetics Fellowship Program and eventually the Clinical Molecular Genetics Fellowship Program. This was transitioned to the Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics Fellowship Program. I was extremely fortunate to join Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in June, 2025. Here, I work closely with the teams treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome, sarcoma and pediatric cancers. 

I have published over 49-peer reviewed publications and have numerous talks and abstracts. I belong to the Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC), Children's Oncology Group (COG), Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), American Cytogenetics Conference (ACC), and the American Society of Human Genetics. I am a former Board of Directors member for CGC and the Education Committee chair for CGC. I currently am an advisor to the Education Committee. I also am a member of the Sarcoma Working Group through CGC. Finally, I am a member of the Assessment and content editor group for the Association of Molecular Pathology. I am passionate about applying testing methodologies for the right patient at the right time to help with the diagnosis and management for patients.