Professor Elizabeth B. Claus has been named to the Connecticut Expert Genomics Advisory Panel.
The panel serves as an external advisory group that provides input and guidance to the state Department of Public Health on emerging genomic issues and activities.
“It is an exciting time to be involved in the study of genetics but deciding how to manage all the information generated as well as consider any clinical applications will be a challenge,” said Claus, Ph.D., M.D., a professor in the division of Biostatistics at the School of Public Health and an attending neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The panel’s goal is to promote the responsible and effective translation of current and emerging genome-based information into health benefits for the population of Connecticut
Among its functions, the panels seeks to facilitate the integration of genomics into the department’s program, contribute to genomic policy development, ensure that advances in genomics are implemented in a responsible way, engage and educate public health professionals, health care providers, policymakers and the public about the role of genomics in health and assure availability of a competent workforce to deliver genetic services
Claus recently received a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify genes associated with meningioma, now the most frequently reported primary intracranial tumor in the United States.
She is also the principal investigator of the Meningioma Consortium Study, a nationwide group of researchers that is seeking to identify genetic and environmental risk factors associated with the development of meningioma. Her previous work included study of the prevalence of two breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, among women diagnosed with breast carcinoma in-situ in Connecticut.