NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Color said today that it is beginning a new initiative to increase access to genetic testing for hereditary cancer and high cholesterol.
Called Color Population Health, the effort is launching in partnership with several US health systems, including the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University; The University of Chicago; and the University of California, San Francisco.
The initiative expands on other programs, such as Color's ongoing research collaboration with the University of Washington, and the firm called it a "key step" in its overall effort to increase access to preventive genomic information.
Under the program, Color will provide patients seen by these partners with full sequencing for genes associated with the "Tier 1 genomic conditions," as established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, Lynch syndrome, and familial hypercholesterolemia.
Patients who opt for testing will have access to genetic counselors through Color, or through the participating institutions, and will receive access to cascade screening through Color's Family Testing Program.
Color will process all patient samples in its CLIA-certified lab, and the health center partners will receive physician education support, digital tools for health history collection and longitudinal surveys, and ongoing updates as classifications and guidelines change.