Connecticut
Spotlight Projects:
The goals of Family Health History initiatives are to provide an accessible method for easily obtaining an accurate family health history and to use that information in health promotion and disease prevention. Such information is important because, although sophisticated genetic testing and other related advances may dramatically change how health care is practiced, genetic information can be used today to improve health. While most diseases result from the interactions of multiple genes and environmental factors, almost everyone has available now, at no cost, the family history--personalized information that captures these factors and can provide the foundation for individualized disease prevention.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health's Genomics Office developed a panel presentation on the promise and benefits of enhanced family health history collection, and methods currently available. The speakers' slide presentations from this workshop are now available on the Genomics Office homepage of the CT Department of Public Health website (scroll down to "What's New" for May 2009). Initial feedback from participants has been extremely positive! The CT DPH would like to extend a special thank you to the Connecticut Department of Public Health's Expert Genomics Advisory Panel members: Susan Capasso, Robin Schwartz, and Mike Stehnay, for their contribution to this effort.
7/09
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Colorectal Cancer web page available through CT DPH website
A collaborative effort between the Connecticut Department of Public Health's Colorectal Cancer Program and Genomics Office has resulted in the development and posting of resources on colorectal cancer in recognition of March/Colorectal Cancer month. Now available on the CT DPH website are the following documents:
- Colorectal Cancer Index Page: Which will lead you to:
- Colorectal Cancer Facts
- Facts & figures
- Genetic Evaluation & Testing
- Screening Demonstration Program
- Resources
All of of the above can be accessed via the links below and on the CT DPH website. Many thanks to the production team of: Joan Foland, Avis Harper-Brooks , Lou Gonsalves and Bev Burke for this great resource, and to select members of the CT DPH Expert Genomics Advisory Panel for their review.
Colorectal Cancer web pages may now be accessed through:
We encourage you to look them over!
3/09
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"Genetic Testing for Hereditary Breast & Ovarian Cancer: What You Should Know"
Staff at the Connecticut Department of Public Health have produced an important and relevant web-based article about genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers and BrCA mutation. Joan Foland, Valerie Fisher, Lou Gonsalves, and Beverly Burke worked together on the project, which includes useful links to discussions about appropriate testing. The article also provides links to family health history and risk assessments tools. The information appeared first on the CT Department of Health website, www.ct.gov/dph, and was then included in the regional newsletter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologysts. Medical providers working with women who are either worried about, or at risk of these cancers, will find these documents helpful, as will women themselves!
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"Multicenter Validation of Algorithms to Improve Communications of Positive Newborn Screening Results to the Medical Home"
Under the auspices of The New England Genetics Collaborative (NEGC), at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory Newborn Screening Program is performing a study entitled, " Multicenter Validation of Algorithms to Improve Communications of Positive Newborn Screening Results to the Medical Home", for the Subsection of Region 1, New England Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative (NERC) grant application to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA-07-016). We have provided newborn screening tandem mass spectrometry data to determine if the algorithms developed by the New England Newborn Screening Program (NENSP) can better distinguish between true cases and false positives to improve the accuracy of reporting significant results to the medical facilities responsible for treating the affected individuals. This algorithm will be applied to data collected by other newborn screening laboratories within Region 1 and across the country to determine if it may be appropriate to independent data sets other than that acquired by the NENSP for determining true abnormal Newborn Screening results. For more information about the Newborn Screening Program in Connecticut, please click here.
7/08