Improving population genetic screening for inherited cancer and high cholesterol
Facilitating the Implementation of Population-wide Genomic Screening (FOCUS)
This project will build and try a free online toolkit to help health systems offer genetic screening to adults for inherited cancer and cholesterol risks.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11311029 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be part of an effort that talks with hospitals and clinics to learn how they run population-wide genetic screening and then creates a free online FOCUS toolkit with step-by-step materials to help them start and run these programs. The team will interview staff and patients at ten programs at different implementation stages, co-design the toolkit with stakeholders, and then test the toolkit in real-world health systems to improve adoption and equitable recruitment. The screening focuses on adults for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome, Lynch Syndrome, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia so more people with actionable genetic variants can be identified and connected to prevention and care.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults aged 21 and older who receive care from or are served by participating health systems and are eligible for population genomic screening.
Not a fit: Children under 21, people not connected to participating health systems, or individuals who already know they carry a related pathogenic variant may not benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more adults with hidden inherited risks could be identified earlier and linked to preventive care and treatment.
How similar studies have performed: Smaller pilot programs have shown population genomic screening can find people with actionable variants, but broad implementation toolkits like this are relatively new and still being tested.
Where this research is happening
Winston-Salem, United States
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences — Winston-Salem, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Allen, Caitlin Gloeckner — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Allen, Caitlin Gloeckner
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.