Indigenous Peoples and Genomics: Starting a Conversation
A new medical test called genomic sequencing is a powerful way to test for many medical conditions, but it sometimes doesn't work as well for some ancestral groups, including Indigenous Peoples. This project held four sharing circle focus groups about this issue with 30 Indigenous participants in the Vancouver, BC area. The video below summarizes the issue of inequity in genomic healthcare for Indigenous Peoples and the views the participants shared with us about the issue and possible solutions.
Each participant was able to choose how they would like to be identified in the video. Some used pseudonyms instead of real names, some included their Nation with their name or pseudonym, and others chose to have their photo included. Some quotes were re-recorded by voiceover actors if participants didn't want their own voices used.
We are currently writing an academic manuscript. Please return here for updates when it is finished.
For more information on this study, please see the project summary here.
If you have any questions, please contact one of the project co-leads:
Patricia Birch, 604-875-2000 ext. 5622, Patricia.Birch@ubc.ca
Jenny Morgan, 604-875-3440, JMorgan6@cw.bc.ca
Another group of researchers has begun work on a new project to address this issue. It is called Silent Genomes, and you can read about it here.
Friedman Lab
Box 153, 4500 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC, V6H 3N1
Fax:604.875.3019