PROJECT NARRATIVE The University of Utah Center for Excellence in ELSI research explores issues relevant to population testing and screening for genetic conditions in the healthcare of women and children, as well as ELSI issues arising from testing and screening in the broader family context and responses to disabilities identified through genetic technologies. The Center supports cores in research, education and career advancement, and administration.

Understanding the social factors that influence the translation of genetic information to improved human health is a major objective of genomics research (Grand Challenges II-5,II-6 and III-1). One current approach for applying genomics to public health is to raise social awareness of family history as an independent, major risk factor for common diseases of adulthood in order to motivate appropriate preventive actions.

Advances stemming from the Human Genome Project have prompted concerns about the general public's readiness to utilize this information to make informed health decisions. As a strategy to increase genetic literacy among the general public, tools are now available to enable individuals to record their family health history. However, little is known about whether the public is able to access the tools, understand how to use them, and apply the information by taking health protective actions, which can compromise the potential effectiveness of the tools.

The Human Genome Project and the International HapMap Project have produced significant resources for understanding the genetic bases for health and disease, including identifying genetic variations, genetic mutations, and genomic functions. The interpretation and reporting of findings from these resources have direct and immediate implications for researchers, the news media, and the general public. Knowledge gaps and low health literacy limit how well many people understand health and genetic information and can therefore influence their decisions and actions.