Hillel at UCLA to host event offering screenings for genetic diseases
By Jillian Frankel
Nov. 19, 2014 7:05 a.m.
Hillel at UCLA will host a gene-screening event Wednesday to help UCLA community members identify their risk of passing down certain genetic diseases.
The Los Angeles Jewish Genetic Disease Prevention Project and Progenity lab are sponsoring the event with Hillel at UCLA. Individuals who attend the event will have access to genetic counseling, said Tammy Rubin, a fourth-year human biology and society student and a member of Hillel at UCLA who is involved in coordinating screenings for students.
“The company we are working with provides counseling before and after, so students really understand what they are getting themselves into and have an understanding of the results,” Rubin said.
There will be 19 Ashkenazi Jewish and eight Persian or Sephardic Jewish disease screenings available, offered for $25 or less with California health insurance, Rubin said.
The screenings will look for different illnesses, such as Tay-Sachs disease and Canavan disease, which members of the Jewish community are at an increased risk of being carriers for even if they do not show symptoms, said Amy Wolfson, managing outreach and community awareness coordinator of the Los Angeles Jewish Genetic Disease Prevention Project.
“(Their common occurrence in the Jewish community) doesn’t mean that these diseases don’t exist in the non-Jewish population,” Wolfson said. “What it means is there is a higher carrier rate in Jews, which is why they are called Jewish genetic diseases.”
Many of these genetic diseases are recessive, which means that both parents would have to be carriers for their children to get the disease, Wolfson said.
Students, faculty and alumni are invited to the screening, which Rubin said she thinks will allow them to make informed decisions before starting families.
“This is for people who are thinking about having children now or in the future, so it’s great information to have,” Wolfson said.
Registration can be completed on-site at Hillel at UCLA, located at 574 Hilgard Ave.
“I think that we take care of our health in so many ways, this is an extra step and knowing is so powerful,” Rubin said. “Our goal is making (knowledge of genetic makeup) more accessible.”
Compiled by Jillian Frankel, Bruin contributor.
