Genetic Alliance Announces 'Family Health History' Grant Award Recipients
Project is the First to Produce Customizable Family Health History Resources for Diverse Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 2, 2008 – Genetic Alliance announced today the awardees of the 2008 Community Centered Family Health History (CCFHH) Program Awards. CCFHH has created a customizable family health history toolkit, “Does It Run In the Family?”, that is available for download on the Genetic Alliance website. Awardees were selected on various criteria, the most important of which was their ability to adapt and distribute the toolkit within their communities in an innovative, accessible, and sustainable way.

Awardees will be the first to use the customizable online version of the “Does It Run In the Family?” toolkit, which will be available to the public by early fall at no charge except that associated with printing. They will produce model projects that can be used by similar organizations in the future as a starting point for their own family health history initiatives. “These groups have the remarkable ability to advance the integration of family health history conversations into diverse communities,” said James O’Leary, COO of Genetic Alliance.

The first booklet in the toolkit, A Guide to Family Health History, explains the importance of knowing one’s health history and details how to collect and organize it in the most useful manner. The second booklet, A Guide for Understanding Genetics and Health, provides a basic overview of genetics, as well as information on genetic links to common health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. 

“No two people – or families, or communities – are the same. Therefore, it is impossible to create a one-size-fits-all family health history tool,” said Sharon Terry, CEO of Genetic Alliance. “Conversations about family health history should be ongoing, not a one-time topic to be discussed and forgotten. What you learn can shape your future and even save your life.”

The 2008 CCFHH Grant Award Recipients are (in no particular order):

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Genetic Alliance (http://www.geneticalliance.org) is a coalition of more than 600 advocacy organizations serving 25 million people affected by 1000 conditions. The organization works to transform leadership in the genetics community to build capacity in advocacy organizations and to educate policymakers by leveraging the voices of individuals and families. Genetic Alliance increases the capacity of genetic advocacy organizations to achieve their missions and leverages the voices of millions of individuals and families living with genetic conditions.

With a 20-year history as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, Genetic Alliance is dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone living with genetic conditions. We are committed to capacity building in all communities. The technical assistance we provide to advocacy organizations results in measurable growth: increased funding for research, access to services, and support for emerging technologies.

Genetic Alliance • http://www.geneticalliance.org • 4301 Connecticut Ave. NW #404, Washington DC • 20008-2369 • Phone: 202.966.5557 • Fax: 202.966.8553