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Clayton EW, Smith ME, Anderson KC, Chung WK, Connolly JJ, Fullerton SM, McGowan ML, Peterson JF, Prows CA, Sabatello M, Holm IA. Studying the impact of translational genomic research: Lessons from eMERGE. Am J Hum Genet 2023; 110:1021-1033. [PMID: 37343562 PMCID: PMC10357472 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Two major goals of the Electronic Medical Record and Genomics (eMERGE) Network are to learn how best to return research results to patient/participants and the clinicians who care for them and also to assess the impact of placing these results in clinical care. Yet since its inception, the Network has confronted a host of challenges in achieving these goals, many of which had ethical, legal, or social implications (ELSIs) that required consideration. Here, we share impediments we encountered in recruiting participants, returning results, and assessing their impact, all of which affected our ability to achieve the goals of eMERGE, as well as the steps we took to attempt to address these obstacles. We divide the domains in which we experienced challenges into four broad categories: (1) study design, including recruitment of more diverse groups; (2) consent; (3) returning results to participants and their health care providers (HCPs); and (4) assessment of follow-up care of participants and measuring the impact of research on participants and their families. Since most phases of eMERGE have included children as well as adults, we also address the particular ELSI posed by including pediatric populations in this research. We make specific suggestions for improving translational genomic research to ensure that future projects can effectively return results and assess their impact on patient/participants and providers if the goals of genomic-informed medicine are to be achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Wright Clayton
- Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, Departments of Pediatrics and Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
| | - Maureen E Smith
- Department of Medicine, Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Katherine C Anderson
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Wendy K Chung
- Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - John J Connolly
- Center for Applied Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Stephanie M Fullerton
- Department of Bioethics & Humanities, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Michelle L McGowan
- Biomedical Ethics Research Program, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - Josh F Peterson
- Center for Precision Medicine, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA
| | - Cynthia A Prows
- Divisions of Human Genetics and Patient Services, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
| | - Maya Sabatello
- Center for Precision Medicine & Genomics, Department of Medicine, and Division of Ethics, Department of Medical Humanities & Ethics Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, NY, NY 10032, USA
| | - Ingrid A Holm
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Okuyama S, White LL, Anderson KP, Medina E, Deutsch S, Ransom C, Jackson P, Kauffman TL, Mittendorf KF, Leo MC, Bulkley JE, Wilfond BS, Goddard KA, Feigelson HS. Evaluating cancer genetic services in a safety net system: overcoming barriers for a lasting impact beyond the CHARM research project. J Community Genet 2023:10.1007/s12687-023-00647-x. [PMID: 37126135 DOI: 10.1007/s12687-023-00647-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Underserved patients face substantial barriers to receiving cancer genetic services. The Cancer Health Assessments Reaching Many (CHARM) study evaluated ways to increase access to genetic testing for individuals in underserved populations at risk for hereditary cancer syndromes (HCS). Here, we report the successful implementation of CHARM in a low-resource environment and the development of sustainable processes to continue genetic risk assessment in this setting. The research team involved key clinical personnel and patient advisors at Denver Health to provide input on study methods and materials. Through iterative and collaborative stakeholder engagement, the team identified barriers and developed solutions that would both facilitate participation in CHARM and be feasible to implement and sustain long term in clinical care. With a focus on infrastructure building, educational modules were developed to increase awareness among referring providers, and standard methods of identifying and managing HCS patients were implemented in the electronic medical record. Three hundred sixty-four DH patients successfully completed the risk assessment tool within the study, and we observed a sustained increase in referrals to genetics for HCS (from 179 in 2017 to 427 in 2021 post-intervention). Implementation of the CHARM study at a low-resourced safety net health system resulted in sustainable improvements in access to cancer genetic risk assessment and services that continue even after the study ended.Trial registration NCT03426878.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Okuyama
- Division of Oncology, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO, USA.
| | - Larissa L White
- Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Aurora, CO, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth Medina
- Ambulatory Care Services, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Sonia Deutsch
- Ambulatory Care Services, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO, USA
| | | | - Paige Jackson
- Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Tia L Kauffman
- Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR, USA
| | | | - Michael C Leo
- Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Joanna E Bulkley
- Department of Translational and Applied Genomics, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Benjamin S Wilfond
- Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Seattle Children's Research Institute and Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Katrina Ab Goddard
- Department of Translational and Applied Genomics, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR, USA
- Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Neuhaus CP, Pacia DM, Crane JT, Maschke KJ, Berlinger N. All of Us and the Promise of Precision Medicine: Achieving Equitable Access for Federally Qualified Health Center Patients. J Pers Med 2023; 13:615. [PMID: 37109001 PMCID: PMC10140886 DOI: 10.3390/jpm13040615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The United States National Institutes of Health's (NIH) All of Us (AoU) initiative recruits participants from diverse backgrounds to improve the makeup of biobanks, considering nearly all biospecimens used in research come from people of European ancestry. Participants who join AoU consent to provide samples of blood, urine, and/or saliva and to submit their electronic health record to the program. In addition to diversifying precision medicine research studies, AoU will return genetic results back to many participants, which may require further follow-up care (i.e., more frequent cancer screening or mastectomy after a BRCA result). To help achieve its goals, AoU has partnered with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which is a type of community health center whose patient base is comprised largely of people who are uninsured, underinsured, or on Medicaid. Our NIH-funded study convened FQHC providers involved in AoU to better understand precision medicine in community health settings. Drawing from our findings, we present barriers community health patients and their providers face when accessing diagnostics and specialty care after genetic results necessitate medical follow-up care. We also propose several policy and financial recommendations to help overcome the challenges discussed, stemming from a commitment to equitable access to precision medicine advances.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Johanna T. Crane
- Alden March Bioethics Institute, Albany Medical College, Albany, NY 12208-3478, USA
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Kaphingst KA, Bather JR, Daly BM, Chavez-Yenter D, Vega A, Kohlmann WK. Interest in Cancer Predisposition Testing and Carrier Screening Offered as Part of Routine Healthcare Among an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Young Women. Front Genet 2022; 13:866062. [PMID: 35495140 PMCID: PMC9047995 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.866062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Sequencing technologies can inform individuals’ risks for multiple conditions, supporting population-level screening approaches. Prior research examining interest in genetic testing has not generally examined the context of population-based approaches offered in routine healthcare or among ethnically diverse populations. Cancer predisposition testing and carrier screening could be offered broadly to women of reproductive age. This study therefore examined interest in these tests when offered as part of routine care, and predictors of interest, among an ethnically diverse sample of women aged 20–35. We conducted an online English-language survey of 450 women; 39% identified as Latina. We examined predictors of interest for two outcomes, interest in testing in the next year and level of interest, in multivariable logistic regression models and stratified analyses by Latina ethnicity. More than half of respondents reported being interested in cancer predisposition testing (55%) and carrier screening (56%) in the next year; this did not differ by ethnicity. About 26% reported being very interested in cancer predisposition testing and 27% in carrier screening. Latina respondents (32%) were more likely to be very interested in cancer predisposition testing than non-Latina respondents (22%; p < 0.03). In multivariable models, having higher worry about genetic risks, higher genetic knowledge, and higher perceived importance of genetic information were associated with higher interest across multiple models. Predictors of interest were generally similar by ethnicity. Our findings show substantial interest in both cancer predisposition testing and carrier screening among young women as part of routine healthcare with similar interest between Latina and non-Latina women. Efforts to broadly offer such testing could be important in improving access to genetic information. It will be critical to develop tools to help healthcare providers communicate about genetic testing and to address the needs of those who have less prior knowledge about genetics to support informed decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly A. Kaphingst
- Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- *Correspondence: Kimberly A. Kaphingst,
| | - Jemar R. Bather
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Brianne M. Daly
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Daniel Chavez-Yenter
- Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Alexis Vega
- Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Wendy K. Kohlmann
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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