GenePOPS - DNA And Depression: Tests, Trust, and Treatment


The Genetics and Public Policy Center's next Genetic Perspectives on Policy Seminar (GenePOPS), "DNA and Depression: Tests, Trust, and Treatment," will be held December 17. The seminar will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC and will last approximately 90 minutes. GenePOPS events are free and open to the public.

Speakers will examine the broad policy issues emerging from growing understanding of the genetic basis of depression and other mental conditions, the ability to detect genes responsible for these conditions and offer therapy based on genetic tests, and the policy questions raised more generally by genetic testing for personalized medical treatment. Also available at the program will be copies of a new set of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP) Working Group regarding the appropriate use of genetic testing to guide treatment of depression, to be published Dec. 15 in the journal Genetics in Medicine.

The program is co-sponsored by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click here to RSVP.

Moderator

Kathy Hudson, director, Genetics and Public Policy Center, Johns Hopkins University

Panel

Kim Bechthold, chief executive officer for the genetic testing company Neuromark
Robert Bernstein, executive director, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Jeffrey Botkin, associate vice president for research, University of Utah, and EGAPP Working Group member
Francis McMahon, chief, Genetic Basis of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH

The four speakers will be followed by panel discussion, reporter questions, and audience Q & A.

2:00 p.m. EST Monday, December 17, 2007
National Press Club
529 14th Street, N.W. -- 13th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20045

About GenePOPS: To explore the areas being touched by human genetic technologies and foster discussion about their impact, the Genetics and Public Policy Center hosts a regular lecture and discussion series in Washington, D.C. called Genetics Perspectives on Policy Seminars - GenePOPS, for short. GenePOPS feature experts from relevant disciplines who come together to share thoughts and answer questions about genetic technologies and science policy.

The sponsors: The Genetics and Public Policy Center is supported at The Johns Hopkins University's Berman Bioethics Institute by The Pew Charitable Trusts, and by research funding from the National Human Genome Research Institute. The Center's mission is to create the environment and tools needed by decision makers in both the private and public sectors to carefully consider and respond to the challenges and opportunities that arise from scientific advances in human genetics.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has been the chief advocate in the United States for the rights of individuals with mental illnesses. Since the Center's founding in 1972, their aim has been to end the abuse and neglect of adults and children with mental disabilities and to define and establish their right to receive needed health and mental health care, housing, education and opportunities for employment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting public health activities in the United States.
http://www.dnapolicy.org/event.registration.php?event_id=13