My Community, My Family, and Me: What Does Genetics Have to Do with Our Health?

The Race and Genetics discussion will focus on race as a social construct with biological meaning;
health disparities centered around gene-environment interactions; an overview of the Human Genome
Project and its outcomes; and the passing of Public Law 110-233: Genetics Information Nondiscrimination
Act of 2008 (GINA).

The Family Health History discussion will have a spin around health and wellness with implications for
overall health status and the need to help clinicians reduce disease risk. The panel will also discuss how
heredity plays a role in disease and how having a good assessment of that can lead to more tailored
methods of intervention around health.

The town hall will serve as a community engagement activity that will provide educational programming to
disseminate research findings from the CGEN Project. Moreover, this event is significant as it will
address consumer advocacy, cultural competency, ELSI issues, and promote community participatory
research related to genetics and health. Attendees will become more informed and identify genetics
resources and services they would like to have in their community (urban medically underserved areas).