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Transforming Prenatal Screening: From New Technologies to Gender Reveal Parties

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Diana Bianchi, M.D.

Diana Bianchi, M.D.

Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Head, Prenatal Genomics and Therapy Section for the Medical Genetics Branch
National Human Genome Research Institute
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Md.
Elected Member of the National Academy of Medicine

Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture:  Transforming Prenatal Screening: From New Technologies to Gender Reveal Parties

Date: December 16, 2021

Time: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

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About this Seminar

Screening for fetal genetic conditions has been part of routine prenatal care since the 1980s. The completion of the Human Genome Project, combined with developments in higher throughput, lower cost DNA sequencing technology, facilitated a major transformation in prenatal testing in 2011. Sequencing of fetal DNA from the blood of pregnant women has been the largest and most successfully implemented genetic test in history. This new approach to prenatal testing is far more accurate than prior approaches but has led to both positive and negative downstream effects on health care and society.

Additional Details

This is a free event hosted by Dr. Michael Friedlander and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. For more information, please call 540-526-2059. 

About Maury Strauss

Maury Strauss is a longtime community benefactor and businessman who supports biomedical research with the goal of energizing the local economy and improving quality of life in our neighborhoods and around the world. In order to ensure the continued success of Roanoke’s biomedical research enterprise, as well as the free public seminars, Mr. Strauss has made a generous gift to the series. Read VT News Story

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