Setting the Pace in Cardiogenetic Care at Lurie Children’s

The Cardiovascular Genetics Center (CVGC) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has experienced steady growth and innovation over the past decade. With new providers, approaches to care and updated practices, the team is helping more children with serious heart conditions receive the expert care they need. 

Cardiogenetics help health care providers understand how genes can play a role in heart conditions and how that information can guide a child’s diagnosis and care. Launched in 2017 by Dr. Greg Webster and genetic counselor Sara Cherny, the CVGC brings together pediatric cardiology, genetic counseling and modern genomic testing under one coordinated program.  

The CVGC works closely with every team in the Lurie Children’s Heart Center to bring the latest genetic advances into everyday care for children and families. Care spans across congenital heart disease, electrophysiology, heart failure, heart transplant, heritable aortic disease, dyslipidemias and more.  

The Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic

In 2025, Dr. Edward Jones and genetic counselor Sarah Jurgensmeyer Langas launched an innovative new program within the CVGC to expand personalized care for patients with congenital heart disease. 
“We recognized a gap in coordinated care for patients with genetically mediated congenital heart disease,” Dr. Jones said. “In response, we established a cardiovascular genetics clinic to provide specialized care for these unique patients.” 

The outpatient clinic provides a single hub of care coordination, where complex genetic information is translated into treatment plans. In its first year, the outpatient clinic received over 150 unique patient referrals. 
In addition to providing patient care, the clinic hosts genetic counseling students, medical students and physicians in training.   

“Medical, nursing and genetic counseling students are eager to learn about how genetics can inform cardiac care,” Cherny said. “They recognize the value and complexity of genetic information and want to know how to use it effectively.” 

New Protocol, New Service Line

Lurie Children’s leaders in genetics, cardiology, cardiovascular-thoracic surgery, critical care and fetal health worked together to create a new, research-backed plan to test babies with complex heart defects for genetic causes earlier than before. 

Launched in February 2026, the Harmonized Early Assessment and Rapid Testing of Genetics in CHD protocol (HEART-GC) is now available for The Chicago Institute for Fetal Health patients with single ventricle heart disease. These patients can receive genetic counseling prenatally and coordinate genetic testing for their child shortly after birth. Comprehensive genetic testing in the first few days of life can inform ongoing management and support teams in providing holistic, collaborative care for critically ill infants.  

“We’re fortunate to have genetic counselors embedded in care throughout the hospital, and this new program leverages the expertise of our fetal, inpatient and cardiovascular genetic counselors,” genetic counselor Sarah Jurgensmeyer Langas said. “Our goal is to provide high-caliber, patient-centered care that allows families to make thoughtful decisions about genetic testing to support their child’s care.” 

This new protocol, which implements cutting-edge genomic tools, is now in advanced stages of implementation. Ongoing quality improvement will continue to improve diagnostic yield, reduce delays and expand access to testing. 
The center also recently launched a new service line in 2026: the Cardiovascular Genetics Inpatient Consult Team. This service provides integrated cardiovascular and genetic expertise for hospitalized patients with suspected genetic heart disease. The team ensures that children hospitalized for complex congenital heart disease have timely access to genetic expertise that can guide immediate care. 

“This integrated inpatient–outpatient cardiovascular genetics approach ensures the right test at the right time, with results translated into actionable care,” Dr. Jones said. “We strive to make our modern genomic evaluations more equitable and consistently available to all patients as we advance precision diagnostics and prepare for next-generation therapeutics.” 

Learn more about our Cardiovascular Genetics Center

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