The Role of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Precision Medicine and Public Health Genomics:  Examples of estimates of costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness in public health and precision medicine will be presented, including ivacaftor treatment for cystic fibrosis, addition of conditions for newborn screening and Lynch syndrome screening of newly diagnosed colorectal cancers. The role of cost-effectiveness and other criteria in prioritizing and evaluating public health activities in genomics and precision medicine will also be discussed.

National DNA Day is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2018!  The National DNA Day Network will be holding events all over the country.  Visit the website to find an event near you or to host an event yourself!

The American College of Clinical Genetics and Genomics annual meeting will be held in Charlotte, NC on April 10-14.  Sessions focus on both research and clinical topics that promote the science and the practice of clinical genetics and genomics.  Attendees will learn about the latest discoveries in the etiology and the pathogenesis of genetic disorders, the latest developments in genetic testing and screening, the laboratory’s role in the diagnosis of genetic disorders, the treatment of genetic disorders in children and adults, the delivery of genetic services, and more.

The 2018 WSRGN Regional Summit has been scheduled for Thursday and Friday, October 11th-12th, 2018 in Seattle, WA.  Please note that the Family Advocates meeting will be held on October 10th, 2018.  We are in the process of reviewing the invited attendees list to ensure that we are including the broad representation that we need.

We will be sending more information about the Summit, including the agenda, in future emails. We will also be contacting you in early September to arrange for your travel.   Please feel free to email Sylvia Mann (sylvia@hawaiigenetics.org) or Pauline Mui (Pauline@hawaiigenetics.org) if you have any questions about this year’s Regional Summit. We hope to see all of you in Seattle in October 2018!!

The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs Annual Conference will be held on February 10-13 in Crystal City, VA.  AMCHP is a national resource, partner and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, children, youth and families, including those with special health care needs.  WSRGN Family advocates, led by Tamara Bakewell, Angela Lindig, and Jill McCormick, will be presenting on “Family Advocacy – Genetic Networks” on Sunday, February 11^th at 1:30 pm.

The next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (SACHDNC) is scheduled for February 8, 2018.  The meeting is also broadcast by webinar.  Registration for the meeting can be found at: http://www.achdncmeetings.org/registration/

The WSRGN website has been renewed and refreshed for the New Year!  Thank you to our own Pauline Mui for all her hard work redesigning the website for our region.  Please take a moment to browse and enjoy the new format.  https://www.westernstatesgenetics.org/

The 2017 Western States Summit in October was a great success, with quite a few new attendees as well as many familiar faces.  Participants in the 2017 WSRGN annual Summit shared their opinions on how and if they will use information discussed at the Summit and the results will be available on the WSRGN website soon.

The following NCC workgroups are looking for new members:  Telegenetics, Clinical Services Directory Development, and Genetics and Genomic Education.  Please contact Megan Lyon, NCC Project Manager, at mlyon@acmg.net, if you would like to volunteer.

WSRGN participates in the NCC Evaluation Work Group. The group continues to work on coming to consensus on what performance measures will be monitored and what data will be collected to measure accomplishments of the Networks.  Look for updates coming later this year on final performance measures and data collection standards.