Area Students Participate in Free Jewish Genetic Disease Screening
Philadelphia, PA, March 27, 2006– Students from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic
Medicine, participated in a free Jewish genetic disease screening program recently held at Hillel at the University of Pennsylvania.
The event was sponsored by the Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases at Albert Einstein Medical Center and Penn Hillel. “We’re
so pleased to have screened 181 students, the most we’ve ever handled in one day,” says Adele Schneider, MD, who is Director
of Genetics at Einstein and spearheaded this program.
Students were screened for nine Jewish genetic diseases including Tay Sachs disease, Canavan disease, Gaucher disease, Familial
Dyautonomia, among others. This is the only current program of its kind in the country to offer free Jewish genetic disease
screening on a college campus. The program ran smoothly with the able assistance of student volunteers from University of
Pennsylvania and genetic counseling students from Arcadia University. This unique partnership provided a calm and professional
environment for student screening. Students are tested to find out if they’re carriers of any of these diseases. A carrier
is a healthy person who is not at risk of developing the disease but has a chance to pass on the gene to his offspring. If
two carriers of the same disorder have a child together, there’s a 25 percent chance of having an affected child. These
diseases are devastating and many are fatal in childhood.
The aim of the program is to screen people early in their life, before they choose a life partner and think about starting
a family. Genetic testing is common during pregnancy but may mean getting news with difficult consequences. And, sadly, some
people find out their carrier status after the birth of an affected child.
The screening involves taking a family history, meeting with a genetic counselor and having blood drawn. Students receive
results in four to six weeks. If an individual is found to be a carrier, they will be contacted by a genetic counselor and
offered genetic counseling.
The screening program at the Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases at Einstein, has offered free screening at the University
of Pennsylvania since the year 2000, and the number of students screened has increased each year. The program has expanded
and is now offered at Tufts University in Boston.
CONTACT: Judy Horwitz
Communications Specialist
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
215-456-6767
horwitzj@einstein.edu
Publish date: March 27, 2006
