October 12, 2006
Mamafest supports UW Medical Genetics Clinic
The UW Medical Genetics Clinic has received a $15,000 donation from Mamafest, an all-volunteer, youth-oriented organization in Seattle. The gift will support the center’s diagnostic and counseling services in the Cancer Genetics Clinic, part of the Medical Genetics Clinic.
Mamafest supports local breast cancer research and educational programs, and has raised more than $36,000 for breast cancer work at the UW, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and other local institutions.
This gift will support patient services to people with breast cancer that may have an inherited basis. Mamafest funding has allowed the Cancer Genetics Clinic to double the number of people in the Northwest receiving cancer genetics counseling. The organization has also helped the UW provide educational outreach on the topic of cancer genetics to health professionals and the wider public in Washington. Mamafest funding is also supporting research collaborations on the mutation epidemiology of breast cancer genes, insurance-outcome surveys of people who have undergone cancer genetics tests, and development of genetic counselor guidelines for cancer risk assessment and counseling.
Nearly 1,400 patients are seen each year by medical geneticists and genetic counselors at the Medical Genetics Clinic.
The clinic covers a wide range of genetic disorders, and also specializes in the genetics of cancers, connective tissue disorders, inherited skin disorders, neurological diseases, and Turner syndrome. For more information about Mamafest, visit http://www.mamafest.org.
