Family History

The Family History Law Project is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention and the University of Michigan School of Public Health, specifically the CPHCG, and the Center for Law, Ethics and Health. Several activities have been carried out including a comprehensive literature review of clinical genomics, family history, genetic risk, and the ethical, legal, and social implications of family history; an assessment of guidance materials that have already been developed; a review of family history tools currently in use; and an analysis of laws and ethical principles affecting the use of family history. The information gathered and analyzed above is now in the process of being turned into two different guidebooks to facilitate the use of family history as a part of the clinical encounter. Both of these guidebooks will be made available on the CDC's web site. The first guidebook is designed for primary care physicians and includes highlights from the ethical and legal family history analysis. The second guidebook focuses on patients. Supplementary information is also being prepared on which the guides have been based. In addition, a web-based database on laws relating to family history is being developed. This project will generate a series of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. These papers will explore the legal and ethical aspects of family history in more depth.

This website was supported by cooperative agreement (U10/CCU525039-01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The content is solely the responsibility of the University of Michigan Center for Public Health and Community Genomics and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.