The Genetics and Public Policy Center was established in 2002 as an independent source of credible information on genetic technologies and genetic policies for the public, media, and policy makers. The Center aims to create the environment and tools needed by key decision makers in both the private and public sectors to carefully consider and respond to challenges and opportunities that arise from scientific advances in human genetics.

The Center’s inaugural project, the Reproductive Genetics Initiative , focused on moving the discussion surrounding the ethical, social, legal, religious, and policy concerns about reproductive genetics toward a sustained constructive conversation to help shape the development, regulation, and use of these technologies. This initiative focused on the areas of reproductive genetic testing, human germline genetic modification, and cloning. As part of the initiative the Center hosted its first major conference, Reproductive Genetics Policy: Framing the Issues, held a series of genetic town halls, and published reports on the town halls , preimplantation genetic diagnosis , policy options , public opinion , cloning , human germline genetic modification , and embryonic stem cell research .

The Center launched a second initiative, the Genetic Testing Quality Initiative, in 2005. Despite the increasingly central role of genetic testing in health care, a key finding from the Center’s analysis is that the future of genetic testing – both within the reproductive context and more broadly – is on shaky footing. So far, as part of this initiative the Center has surveyed providers of genetic testing and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, published the report “Public Health at Risk: Failures in Oversight of Genetic Testing Laboratories,” and hosted a major summit to discuss how best to use genetic tests to usher in an era of personalized medicine.

Both the Reproductive Genetics Initiative and the Genetic Testing Quality Initiative are funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

In fall 2006 the Center was awarded a cooperative agreement by the National Human Genome Research Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) to carry out a two-year public consultation project on attitudes toward a possible large-cohort study of genetic and environmental contributors to health. As part of this project, GPPC is tapping into public opinion through focus groups, community leader interviews, and town halls in five U.S. cities, as well as through a 4,000-person national survey.

The Center also is conducting a similar engagement project for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs focused on its Genomic Medicine Program.

In 2007 Genetic Alliance partnered with the Center on a three-year project funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. The Center's role is to help assess parents' attidudes and educational needs surrounding embryo screening.

News of the Center’s latest activities can be found here , or in its monthly newsletters.

Last updated 04/17/2008