The goal of the Kaphingst research program is to develop effective cancer and genetic communication approaches for the clinical translation of genomic information. Our current research is in two major areas.
First, we are examining innovative communication approaches for the delivery of cancer genetic services. We are leading the Broadening the Reach, Impact, and Delivery of Genetic Services (BRIDGE) multi-site randomized clinical trial (U01CA232826). This study is funded through the National Cancer Institute's Inherited Cancer Syndromes Collaborative, and is comparing approaches for delivering genetic counseling and testing for hereditary cancer among unaffected primary care patients. In a supplement, we are also examining racial and ethnic disparities in the reach of cancer genetic services (U01CA232826-03S1). In another study in this research area, we are examining individuals’ interest in receiving integrated genetic testing for multiple testing indications.
Our second major area of research focus is to develop and test family communication interventions to support cascade genetic testing. As one example, we recently completed a pilot study to test a family telehealth intervention for families of probands with a pathogenic variant.
