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Medical Director of Cardiovascular Genetics | Riley Hospital for Children
Associate Professor of Clinical Medical and Molecular Genetics | Indiana University School of Medicine
As a medical geneticist, Dr. Elle Geddes cares for people with genetic disorders, birth defects and rare diseases. She works with other health care providers to make care plans, advocates for required resources and therapies with hospitals and insurance companies, and interprets genetic-testing results. As medical director of cardiovascular genetics at Riley, she helps ensure that the heart center team is using cutting-edge genetic technology, therapies and knowledge to help patients do their best. She is one of only two cardiovascular geneticists in the state. “I love my patients,” Geddes said. “I see lots of kids facing challenges we can’t imagine, and somehow, they usually are still happy and playful. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by their charms.”
Getting here: She worked all sorts of jobs—babysitting, pet-sitting, newspaper delivery, pizzeria, wildlife rehabilitation. But her experience as a veterinary technician opened her eyes to what she wanted her career to be. “One evening, one of the veterinarians told me he thought I should go into medicine. I really respected him, so it meant a lot to me. He meant veterinary medicine, of course, but that was the first time I ever thought that being a doctor was something I might be able to do.”
Proud moment: She develops and advocates for standardized protocols for genetic testing in infants with congenital heart disease. “It’s a deceptively simple idea, yet much more difficult to put into motion on large scales and needs constant updating,” she said. “This still isn’t standard in many major children’s hospitals.”
Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Ware, another cardiovascular geneticist at IU School of Medicine
Givebacks: Geddes participates in patient advocacy groups on Facebook, where she has been able to help people worldwide by discussing with their physicians a rare disease or treatment that Geddes has experience with.
Self-realization: “You always need to keep working on yourself. You should never view yourself as a finished canvas.”
Advice: “Be kind to yourself and others. In the moments you don’t have the strength to be kind to yourself, have the strength to ask for help.”•
Check out more Forty Under 40 honorees.
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