May 19, 2005
Community Forum on Genetics offers chance to learn and confer
By Pam Sowers
News & Community Relations
Scientists have mapped the human genome and are hoping to predict who might be susceptible to certain diseases or responsive to certain treatments.
Yet the scientific advances raise ethical, legal and social questions and have implications for communities. How can I protect my family’s privacy? How will genomics affect the legal system? Will genomic medicine reduce health disparities? Will the cost of medical care rise or fall?
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, will be at the UW Saturday, May 21, to consider such complex questions with community members and to discuss these ethical, social and legal implications of genomic research.
“DNA, Health and Social Justice: A Community Forum on Genetics,” at the UW Law School in William Gates Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will engage community members, educators, students and professionals in a dialogue about genomics, research, applications and ethics. This free event is open to the public.
Speakers and session facilitators include: Sharon Terry, executive director of the Genetic Alliance; Ralph Forquera, executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board; and Makani Themba-Nixon, executive director of the Praxis Project.
The forum is a collaboration between the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, and several UW partners, including the Department of Medical History and Ethics, the Department of Genome Sciences, the Institute for Public Health Genetics, and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
The agenda includes Collins’ keynote address at 10 a.m., plenary sessions and breakout sessions.
To register, see the forum Web site at http://depts.washington.edu/ceeh/Genetics_Forum/Genetics_Forum_main.htm
