Genomics Translation

Family History Public Health Initiative

In 2002, the Office of Public Health Genomics (OPHG) started the Family History Public Health Initiative to increase awareness of family history as an important risk factor for common chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and to promote its use in programs aimed at reducing the burden of these diseases in the U.S. population.

The initiative has four main activities:

• Conducting research to define, measure, and assess family history in populations and individuals
• Developing and evaluating tools for collecting family history
• Evaluating whether family history-based strategies work
• Promoting family history awareness to health professionals and the public

 

Family History Resources

• U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative
• Family Healthware™
• Pediatric Genetics
• Family History Collection Tools
• State Genomics Programs

 

Publications and Reports

• National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference Statement
  • Family Health History Still an Important Tool for Clinical and Public Health Practice, but Knowledge Gaps Remain, CDC
    
• Clinical Application of Genetic Risk Assessment Strategies for Coronary Artery Disease: Genotypes, Phenotypes, and Family History
  Primary Care, 2004
• Research Priorities for Evaluating Family History in the Prevention of Common Chronic Diseases [PDF 107KB]
  American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2003
• Family History in Pediatric Primary Care and Public Health