Andrea Atherton is a board-certified genetic counselor who currently works for Horizon Therapeutics as a Regional Medical Director in Rare Diseases where her primary focus is centered around scientific education and dissemination of information on the medical management and treatment for Cystinosis. Andrea started her career 20 years ago as a genetic counselor at Children’s Mercy Hospital after graduating from the University of Texas Health Science Center with a master’s degree in genetic counseling. While working as a genetic counselor, Andrea was extremely involved in the care of pediatric and adult patients with inborn errors of metabolism, lysosomal storage disorders, mitochondrial conditions, neuromuscular disorders, neurogenetic diseases and became a huge advocate for newborn screening at the state and federal level. She served as a member of the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network steering committee and was recently appointed as the newest board member to RareKC in 2023. On a personal note, Andrea has been married to her husband for over 20 years and they have four boys together. Their oldest son is a freshman at Crowder College where he is studying business and playing baseball for the Roughriders. Their youngest three boys are identical triplets who are sophomores in high school. Andrea volunteers her time and serves on the executive committee of the athletic booster at Lee’s Summit North High School.
