The Fisher Center For Familial Cancer Research: Georgetown University

The mission of the Jess and Mildred Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research, established in August 2006, is to conduct state-of-the-art research on the prevention, treatment and management of familial cancers in order to improve the medical and quality of life outcomes of women and men at risk for cancer.

Dr. Muin Khoury, Director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Genomics, will be giving a talk on Wednesday, December 2, at 10 AM in the Research Building Auditorium entitled, "Letting the Genome Out of the Bottle:  Will We Get Our Wish?"  As part of his Visiting Professorship, he will also be meeting with Fisher Center members to discuss ongoing and future research, particularly in the area of personalized medicine.

Dr. Khoury is a renowned leader in the field of genetic epidemiology and public health.  Many of his recent publications have addressed issues related to the translation of genome wide association studies, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, and the importance of family history collection and interpretation in primary care settings.  Read more of Dr. Khoury's bio. 

Please follow this link for selected PDFs of articles co-authored by Dr. Khoury.

A map with information about parking and directions to the (New) Research Building can be found here. 

If you have a personal or family history of cancer and would like more information about genetic counseling and testing, the Fisher Center offers clinical services as well as the opportunity for eligible individuals to participate in research studies.  Please click here or call (202) 687-1750 [toll free at (877) 687-1750]. For educational material about familial cancer, click here.

Members of the Fisher Center are invited to attend informal meetings in which ongoing and new research ideas will be discussed, in addition to relevant clinical, educational, and programmatic issues.  Meetings are held quarterly, on the third Wednesdays of the month, and light refreshments are served.  Meeting dates and locations for 2010 are as follows:

February 17:  Location TBD

May 19:  Location TBD

September 15:  Martin Marietta Room, Lombardi

November 17:  Martin Marietta Room, Lombardi

Speakers/topics will be posted as soon as they are available. 

The directors of the Jess and Mildred Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research are pleased to announce the 3rd annual call for applications for pilot grants. The purpose of the grant is to provide seed money for data collection and preliminary results leading to competitive applications for national funding sources. We invite applications for projects in basic science, clinical translational research, epidemiology, or behavioral science. In addition, we encourage applications addressing ethical and/or health policy issues that concern individuals with familial or hereditary cancer. The application is available here and is due on February 1, 2010. Funding will be awarded by April 2010.