Building the plane while flying it:

State health departments implementing genomics activities face the challenge of a limited evidence base on the effectiveness of these interventions, compared with more standard public health approaches. At the same time, these programs offer the opportunity to contribute to the evidence base, informing future efforts. This seminar will address how state health departments and others can include evaluation measures when developing their genomics programs and conduct evaluations of these programs, in order to build the evidence base. This seminar will be of interest to CDC programs working to build the evidence base on effective genomics approaches, as well as those considering implementing genomics activities. This seminar will also be useful for CDC programs working on conditions for which the evidence base is limited, such as birth defects, rare disorders, and newborn screening. As one example, an evaluation using CDC’s science impact framework to trace the impact of public health activities and partnerships on implementation of hereditary cancer screening guidelines will be presented.