Media Advisory

Media Advisory:
Integrating genetics into public health policy, research and practice

The Second National Conference on Genetics and Disease Prevention

Public health professionals; program directors; local, state and federal policymakers; federal agency representatives; researchers and practitioners will be among participants attending The Second National Conference on Genetics and Disease Prevention. HHS's, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health will sponsor this conference, organized by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Participants will discuss discoveries in human genetics as well as ideas about integrating them into public health policy, research and practice. Some issues to be addressed include: the continuity of genetic research--from discovery to health service provision; advances in genetic technologies; quality assurance in genetic testing; community perspectives on genetics and health; policy implications of using genetic information to improve health and prevent disease; and building the capacity of public service delivery systems to assure the safe and effective use of genetic information.

WHO:

Monday, Dec. 6, 12:00 p.m. (Luncheon Keynote)
Carol Greene, M.D., Congressional Fellow, Staff to Senator Edward Kennedy
(D-MA)
Monday, Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m.
Peter C. van Dyck, M.D., M.P.H., HRSA Associate Administrator,
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 11:30 a.m. (Closing Plenary)
Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., Administrator, HRSA

WHEN:

Monday, Dec. 6, 8:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

WHERE:

Hyatt Regency Baltimore on the Inner Harbor, 300 Light Street, (410) 528-1234

CONTACT:

Gail Hayes, CDC Media Relations Division (404) 639-3286
Mona Finch, HRSA Communications (301) 443-3376
Cathy Yarbrough, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH
(301) 594-0954
Jacalyn Bryan, Deputy Director Policy and Programs, ASTHO (202) 371-9090

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES