Einstein Takes the Lead in Preventing Jewish Genetic Diseases
March 31 Symposium Aims to Educate, Inform
Philadelphia, PA, March 10, 2008 – Albert Einstein Healthcare Network’s Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases is the lead sponsor of a day-long symposium
on Monday, March 31, 2008 at the Hilton Philadelphia on City Avenue. Geared for physicians, rabbis, cantors, nurses, social workers, college students,
and families, the symposium aims to mobilize the community to help prevent those genetic diseases which are more prevalent
in the Jewish population.
Other sponsoring partners include the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia, Samost Jewish Family & Children’s
Service of Southern New Jersey and Jewish Family Services of Delaware.
“Fortunately, we can detect all of these diseases with one simple blood test,” said Adele Schneider, MD, Director of Clinical Genetics at Albert Einstein Medical Center. “Further genetic counseling then provides young men and
women who are carriers with crucial information as they begin planning to start their own families. Unfortunately, the high
cost and inconvenience of the testing along with a general lack of awareness about the prevalence of these diseases remains
a huge barrier.”
The symposium, entitled “Mobilizing our Community to Prevent Jewish Genetic Diseases,” will feature a keynote public health policy address by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R, PA); a discussion on the history and effectiveness
of screening for Jewish genetic diseases; an address on advocacy and community empowerment, and a panel of family members
on coping with Jewish genetic diseases.
Richard Gladstein, two-time Academy Award-nominated film producer (Finding Neverland and Cider House Rules) and founder of the Bloom’s Syndrome Foundation, will participate on the family panel.
Approximately one in five Ashkenazi (of Eastern European descent) Jewish men and women is a carrier of a mutation in a gene
for one of several inherited diseases that are more common in the Jewish population. While a carrier is a healthy person,
a carrier may pass on a gene mutation to his or her offspring and is therefore at risk of bearing a child affected by the
disease. Some of these diseases, such as Tay-Sachs and Canavan Disease, can lead to the early death of a child.
“We would like to see these tests become as routine as a blood test for marriage,” said Lois Victor who lost two
daughters to Familial Dysautonomia, and who founded the Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases.
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network’s Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases provides comprehensive genetic education, screening
and counseling for those at risk through programs in healthcare institutions in Philadelphia (Albert Einstein Medical Center);
Boston (Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center); and Miami (University of Miami Miller School of Medicine).
For more information on the symposium or the Victor Center, please call 215-456-3373 or visit www.victorcenter.org
Publish date: March 10, 2008
