Genetics counselor, researcher join Medical Center faculty

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Emily C. Boothe, M.S.

Emily C. Boothe, a genetic counselor and telehealth coordinator for genetics at UMMC, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pediatrics.

After receiving her B.S. in biological sciences from Mississippi State University in 2010, Boothe served as a biology teacher in the West Point School District from 2011-12 and earned her M.S. in genetic counseling at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock in 2014. She then joined the Medical Center as a genetic counselor in 2014 and became telehealth coordinator for genetics in 2015.

An active member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Boothe has authored an article in a peer-reviewed professional publication and has presented a poster at a national meeting; both were focused on her telehealth work for genetics in Mississippi. She is involved in genetic counselor education and has given several lectures to a variety of audiences.

Mark W. Cunningham Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Mark W. Cunningham Jr., recently a postdoctoral research fellow in pharmacology and toxicology at UMMC, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in pharmacology and toxicology.

After receiving his B.S. in biology magna cum laude from Morehouse College, Atlanta, in 2008, Cunningham earned his Ph.D. in medical sciences at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, in 2014. He then had his postdoctoral research fellowship at UMMC and earned his M.B.A. at the Millsaps College Else School of Management in 2017.

A Phi Beta Kappa national honor society selection, Cunningham is an active member of the American Physiological Society and the American Heart Association. He has authored or coauthored 22 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications and 21 abstracts presented at scientific meetings nationwide. His current research project is to examine “The Role of AT1 Receptor Autoantibodies in the Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia and Mom’s Risk of Cardiovascular, Renal and Cerebral Disease Post-partum.”