WEH/Ethox Seminar - Psychology applied to genomics: understanding the utility of personal genomic information for physical and mental health
Dr Saskia Sanderson, Department of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London
Research
Wednesday, 06 November 2019, 11am to 12.30pm
Seminar room 0, BDI, Old Road Campus, OX3 7LF
Abstract
People are increasingly accessing personal DNA-based information about themselves both in the clinical context and via direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. Through these clinical and commercial routes, more and more people are learning genetic information about their ancestry, physical disease risks (e.g. cancer, heart disease), and mental health. This raises important questions about the value or utility (ratio of benefits to harms) of personal genomic information for disease prediction, prevention and early detection. The potential benefits and harms of personal genomics include psychological and behavioural outcomes, e.g. motivation to engage in risk-reducing behaviours on the one hand, versus potential fatalism or false reassurance on the other. In this talk I will discuss some of our applied psychological research in which we’ve explored the psychological and behavioral outcomes of giving people personal genetic and genomic information about themselves. I will provide an overview of work conducted by our group and by others over the past two decades that has explored the impact first of genetic testing for single gene variants, through to whole genome sequencing in more recent years; discuss what we have learnt; and discuss future directions for the emerging field of psychology applied to genomics.
VIEW Previous Richard Doll seminars IN Public health and epidemiology
Professor Sir Richard Doll
Forthcoming events
The epidemiology of periportal fibrosis in the context of intestinal schistosomiasis
Monday, 09 October 2023, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building seminar rooms
Defeating Meningitis by 2023 Global Roadmap
Monday, 16 October 2023, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building seminar room 1
Population structure, admixture and ancestry variation across China Kadoorie Biobank and Utility of imaging-based body fat composition in predicting traits and cardio-metabolic diseases
Wednesday, 18 October 2023, 12pm to 1pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar room 0
OxPop Festival of Global Health - The Cancer Conflict
Thursday, 19 October 2023, 5pm to 8pm @ Richard Doll Lecture Theatre, Richard Doll Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7LF
Cancer Treatments: trust and information
Chronic infections and risk of NCDs in Chinese adults
Monday, 30 October 2023, 1pm to 2pm @ BBDI/OxPop Building seminar rooms
Metabolomics and diabetes in CKB and UKB
Thursday, 02 November 2023, 12pm to 1pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar room 0