University Cancer & Blood Center welcomes Kris Schultz-Tanner to our team! Kris is a Nurse Practitioner, credentialed in cancer genetics. Her formal title is Advanced Clinical Genomics Nurse, and she will be working with the UCBC social workers who will be providing genetic evaluation and testing.

Kris has been a practicing oncology nurse for 21 years and had the opportunity to get additional education in cancer genetics after she finished her FNP program in 2016. She headed up the Cancer Genetics program at Piedmont from 2016-2020, during which she had the opportunity to conduct research about the rates of aggressive breast surgeries in breast cancers that were candidates for breast conservation. Last year, Kris’ case study about Gorlin Syndrome was published in Springer Nature Comprehensive Clinical Medicine.

A Minnesota native, Kris graduated with a double major in Psychology and Nursing from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. Her first nursing job was a stem cell transplant oncology unit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. She refers to this situation as, “talk about trial by fire for a new grad!” Kris’ master’s is from Simmons College (now Simmons University) in Boston, and she is a volunteer primary care provider at Mercy Health Center, and a community theatre performer.

Through genetic evaluation, UCBC is able to estimate a person’s lifetime risk of certain cancers and help guide him or her through appropriate prevention and screenings. This information has the potential to provide patients with peace of mind or potentially help then make more informed choices about their cancer risks.