2014 Presidential Address: The Time of Our Lives (original) (raw)
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Understanding the new human genetics: A review of scientific editorials
Social Science & Medicine, 2006
Developments in genetics are expected to have a profound impact on health and health care, yet much remains to be learned about how leaders of the research and clinical communities view and frame these expectations. We conducted a comprehensive review of editorials about developments in genetic medicine published in scientific journals, to understand what this elite group of commentators anticipate. Editorials are an important resource for understanding how the new genetics is understood and portrayed. They allow leaders of the research and clinical communities to communicate to each other and informed publics, and are a forum for the expression of widely shared elite beliefs and opinions. We analyzed selected editorials for content and metaphoric language to explore attitudes and expectations concerning developments in genetic science and technology. Our analysis suggests that a diverse group of leaders of the research and clinical communities are remarkably uniform in their discourse about the future of genetic medicine. Editorialists have great expectations for developments in basic science and in the comprehension and management of disease. They also anticipate important effects on health care, notably the health care professions, and on wider society. Yet editorialists do not discuss these prospects in a consistently positive or optimistic manner, and they utilize metaphoric imagery that emphasizes the inexorable nature of progress, and the sometimes ominous manner in which developments emerge. The dominant discourse of editorialists claims authority for clinicians and researchers and asserts a broad sphere of expertise, but it also positions these leaders as handmaidens of a science they do not control, and insists that their ultimate contribution is to prepare themselves and others for the inexorable march of progress. r (F.A. Miller), aherncm@mcmaster.ca (C. Ahern), smithca2@mcmaster.ca (C.A. Smith), harvee@mcmaster.ca (E.A. Harvey).
Journal of Genetic Counseling, 2012
I am truly honored to receive the Natalie Weissburger Paul Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC). The NSGC has played such an important role in my professional life and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to play an active role in this organization. I want to thank the Awards Committee, Samantha Baxter, MS, CGC for her introduction and congratulate the other award recipients who no doubt will be standing up here one day given all of their impressive contributions and achievements. Receiving this award in California is particularly meaningful. I attended my first NSGC conference in San Diego in 1987 and my whole class was hereall two of us.
American journal of human genetics, 1988
In recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in both the rate of acquiring new information about human genetics and the importance of human genetics for modern health care. As a result, human genetics educators have queried whether the teaching of human genetics in North-American medical schools has kept pace with these increases. To address this question, a survey of these medical schools was undertaken to assess how human geneticists perceive the teaching of human genetics in their respective institutions. The results of the survey, begun and completed in 1985, indicate the following: (1) the teaching of human genetics in medical schools is extremely variable from one institution to another, with some schools having no identifiable human genetics teaching at all; (2) the relevance of human genetics to other basic science and clinical disciplines apparently leads to noncategorical or fragmented teaching of human genetics, which may also contribute to the absence of a speci...
Genetics, 2012
E ACH year, the Genetics Society of America honors an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions in the field of genetics education. In recognition of his extensive contributions to genetics education, and for bringing a genomics curriculum to a broad audience that includes K-12 to community colleges, large state institutions, small liberal arts colleges, and the lay public, David Micklos is this year's recipient of the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education. Through his work as founder and executive director of the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), Dave has ushered DNA science into the educational curriculum for thousands of students, high school teachers, and undergraduate faculty. The DNALC's website alone hosts more than 7 million visitors each year (http://www.dnalc.org).