Grant: Team Grant: Community-Based Primary Healthcare - LOI

Over the past 25 years, scientists have discovered that parts of our genetic makeup can help predict common chronic disorders including diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers. These discoveries have sparked the development of more advanced diagnostic tests that look for the presence (or absence) of these genetic characteristics in individual patients. The cost of undertaking these new genetic tests is falling rapidly and the numbers of people seeking them through either their doctor or through private companies is rising. The hope is that these genetic tests will help disease screening and diagnosis, as well as the development of more personalized drug therapies and treatment plans. While these new advances have great potential for wider use in primary care, we still do not know how health professionals working in the community, and patients, can effectively use genetic test information, or how much it might improve health when compared to normal primary care. The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Genetics in Ottawa recognizes the potentially important role of family doctors in the use of genomic information for patient care and is supporting research in this area. A new team including family physicians, genetic scientists, and patient groups in three provinces have come together from across Canada to study this problem. This research team recognizes the importance of education to enable people to discuss the significance of genomic test results with their healthcare providers. We aim to develop and implement clear patient and doctor education and practice guidelines for the use of genomics in primary care.