NHGRI logo

Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics

The Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics (ISCC-PEG) aims to improve genomic literacy of healthcare providers and enhance the effective practice of clinical genomic medicine by facilitating interactions among the key stakeholders in genomics education.

Overview

The Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics (ISCC-PEG) was formed in February 2013 from the Genomic Medicine IV meeting. Through ISCC-PEG, members can collaborate to identify educational needs and potential solutions, share best practices in educational approaches and develop educational resources.

ISCC-PEG membership includes over 260 representatives from societies, professional organizations, NIH institutes, industry as well as individuals with expertise in medical education.

Since its inception, ISCC-PEG has provided an important forum for discussion and, through project groups, conference calls and in-person meetings, developed resources for genomics education including webinars, published competencies and workshops at meetings of member organizations.
 

View a brief video about the ISCC-PEG.


Courtesy of the ISCC-PEG Rare Disease Project Group

 

Download the ISCC-PEG Poster (PDF)
Presented at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting 2021

 

For more information on the ISCC-PEG and its mission, refer to ISCC-PEG Description.

 

2023 ISCC-PEG Annual Meeting photo

Participants from the ISCC-PEG 12th Annual Meeting on February 15, 2023. From left to right: Rich Haspel, Sara Roth, Abimbola Oladayo, Molly Felix, Shoumita Dasgupta, Phil Empey, Siddharth Prakash, Sabrina  Malone Jenkins, Kristine Crews, Trina Walker, Ava Willoughby, Valerie Willis, Emily Edelman, Rebecca Kronk, Heide Aungst, Nguyen Park, Robert Ostrander and Donna Messersmith. Photo Credit: Vijay-Kumar Solanki.

PowerPoint Downloads

ISCC-PEG powerpoint template

 

Downloadable Zoom Backgrounds

Zoom Background

 

Membership

ISCC-PEG membership consists of representatives from societies, professional organizations, NIH institutes, industry as well as individuals with expertise in healthcare education. The ISCC-PEG is co-chaired by an NIH official and an external member. Members include healthcare educators, nurses, genetic counselors, medical geneticists, pharmacists, dentists, physician assistants, and physicians from a variety of medical specialties.

If you or your organization have a demonstrated interest in health care professional genomics education, we welcome your involvement in the ISCC-PEG. Please complete the membership application.

Questions: ISCC-NHGRI@nih.gov.

ISCC-PEG Members submit information to the Compendium to describe their genomics education initiatives and interests to facilitate collaboration.

Membership Documents and Links

ISCC-PEG Co-Chairs

Donna Messersmith Jones, Ph.D.
Donna Messersmith, Ph.D.
  • Provider Education Specialist
  • Education and Community Involvement Branch
Richard Haspel
Richard L. Haspel, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Professor of Pathology
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School

Project Groups

The Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics (ISCC-PEG) commissioned four initial working groups to address major areas identified at the Genomic Medicine IV meeting that are critical to effective implementation of clinical genomics. Over time, additional project groups have been established. Project groups are proposed by and made up of ISCC-PEG members. These groups play a key role in addressing specific needs in genomics education and developing related resources.

 

Project Groups have developed resources, presentations for national meetings, and published articles and abstracts (for full list see “ISCC-PEG Accomplishments: 2020-2023”).

 

Examples of resources developed include:

 

See Retired Working Groups

Inclusion in the Practice of Genomic Medicine: Exploring the Impact of Implicit Biases Towards Disability 

Co-Chairs: Shoumita Dasgupta and Maya Sabatello

This group has developed CME/CEU-granting educational resources related to studying unconscious bias for individuals with disabilities during prenatal screening.

This Project Group's goals are to:

  1. Identify implicit and/or explicit bias held by medical students and clinicians towards individuals with physical and/or intellectual disability.
     
  2. Determine whether these biases impact genetic counseling recommendations in a prenatal setting.
     
  3. Assess whether training in patient-centered counseling can positively impact subjects' ability to appropriately make unbiased prenatal recommendations.
Inclusion in the Practice

Pharmacogenomics (PGx)

Co-Chairs: Phil Empey and Roseann Gammal

This project group develops educational content for clinicians of all specialties. This is a multidisciplinary group that leverages expertise from nurses, PharmDs, physicians, researchers, and others with expertise in pharmacogenomics.

This Project Group is working on these goals:

  1. Create and/or re-purpose pharmacogenomics educational content and resources targeted to clinicians;
     
  2. Prepare for presentations at clinician professional meetings;
     
  3. Tailor pharmacogenomics educational content for nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, genetic counselors, physicians, researchers, and other healthcare professionals; and
     

Educate the public in pharmacogenomics to improve healthcare.

Seeking New Members

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing (DTC-GT)

Co-Chairs: Tracey Weiler and Houriya Ayoubieh

This project group develops educational content for clinicians of all specialties. This is a multidisciplinary group that leverages expertise from nurses, PharmDs, physicians, researchers, and others with expertise in pharmacogenomics.

This Project Group is working on these goals:

  1. Create and/or re-purpose pharmacogenomics educational content and resources targeted to clinicians;
     
  2. Prepare for presentations at clinician professional meetings;
     
  3. Tailor pharmacogenomics educational content for nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, genetic counselors, physicians, researchers, and other healthcare professionals; and
     

Educate the public in pharmacogenomics to improve healthcare.

Seeking New Members

DTC-GT FAQ

Rare Diseases

Chair: Sabrina Malone Jenkins

Project Group Goals:

  1. Educate healthcare professionals on available resources for rare genetic diseases.
     
  2. Develop resources to address the challenges of rare diseases, such as diagnostic delays, lack of available treatment guidelines, and limited referral pathways.
     
  3. Identify effective dissemination methods for information about rare diseases by specialty or practice area.
     

Seeking New Members

OB/GYN Genetics Curriculum

Co-Chairs: Barbara O’Brien and Louise Wilkins-Haug

Project Group Description:

We aim to develop a national Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) genetics/genomics curriculum. Our initial focus is on residents, but we hope the resources will be applicable to other healthcare providers involved in caring for OB/GYN patients.

Project Group Goals:

  1. Using a modified Delphi approach with the project group members and other experts, develop curricular learning objectives.
     
  2. Develop a curriculum and teaching tools for implementation.
     
  3. Disseminate and evaluate the curriculum at OB/GYN residency programs.
     
  4. Adapt the curriculum to other OB/GYN healthcare providers.

Seeking New Members

Adult Cardiovascular Genomics

Chair: Siddharth Prakash

Project Group Goals:

  1. Fulfill an unmet need for adult cardiovascular genetics education for a global audience
     
  2. Increase awareness of heritable cardiovascular diseases by non-specialist health professionals, who are gatekeepers and partners in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients
     
  3. Improve the recognition and referral of patients with genetically triggered cardiovascular diseases
     
  4. Increase the diversity of faculty perspectives by featuring case-based modules that address genomic issues that are relevant to daily clinical cardiovascular practice
UTHealth Adult Cardiovascular Genomics Certificate Program

LGBTQI+ Issues in Genomics

Co-Chairs: Kelsey Bohnert and Lee Willams

Project Group Goals:

  1. Fulfill an unmet need for adult cardiovascular genetics education for a global audience
     
  2. Increase awareness of heritable cardiovascular diseases by non-specialist health professionals, who are gatekeepers and partners in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients
     
  3. Improve the recognition and referral of patients with genetically triggered cardiovascular diseases
     
  4. Increase the diversity of faculty perspectives by featuring case-based modules that address genomic issues that are relevant to daily clinical cardiovascular practice

Seeking New Members

Nursing Genomics

Co-Chairs: Trina Walker and Anne Ersig

Overall Mission: This project group aims to support the integration of genetics and genomics into nursing education and practice at all levels.

Project Group Goals:

  1. Define the role of the nurse in genetics and genomics
     
  2. Obtain support of nursing leaders to ensure continued emphasis of genetics and genomics in routine nursing education and practice
     
  3. Assemble available comprehensive and accessible working resources for nursing faculty, practicing nurses, and advanced practice clinicians

Project Group Proposal:

Seeking New Members

Healthcare Professionals Genomics Education Listserv

Email: HCPGENOMICSED@LIST.NIH.GOV

The listserv is free and hosted by NHGRI and the ISCC-PEG.  Membership is encouraged, but not required for subscription. 

Goals:

  • Circulate timely information or new releases of resources.
  • Facilitate dissemination of genomics education resources and related events.
  • Promote collaboration among ISCC-PEG members.
  • Provide outreach to healthcare professionals in genomic healthcare.
     

Audience: 

  • Healthcare professionals, trainees, and their educators with an interest in genomics education
  • Can include: Educators, Genetic counselors, Laboratory assistants, Laboratory managers, Medical assistants, Nurses, Nurse practitioners, Pharmacists, Physician assistants, Physicians, Public health professionals, Research assistants, Researchers
     

How to Subscribe:

Note: Joining the listserv is voluntary.

  1. Go to: https://list.nih.gov/
  2. Browse: Search Public Lists: HCPGenomicsEd
  3. Click on list name "HCPGenomicsEd" and subscribe.
  4. After approval by the moderator, you will receive this message “You  have  been  added  to the  HCPGENOMICSED  mailing  list  (Healthcare Provider Genomics Education)” followed by additional information.
     

How to Post:

  1. Send an email to the list: HCPGENOMICSED@LIST.NIH.GOV.
  2. Moderator will approve/disapprove of post.
  3. Approved posts will be sent to all subscribers.
     

Approved Posts:

Note: All must be related to genomics education or genomics in healthcare.

Announcements:

  • Genomics education events
  • Educational opportunities like courses and webinars
  • Funding opportunities
  • Upcoming professional meetings and deadlines for abstracts
  • Jobs
     

Circulating requests, responses must be sent only to the person seeking participants:

  • Participation in a survey
  • Requests for speakers
  • Participation in a focus group
     

Additional criteria:

  • Not intended as a discussion board. 
  • No advertising of commercial products
  • Current resource (i.e. does not have to be a recent resource as long as the content is current)
  • Not a duplication of a prior recent posting unless a reminder of an upcoming event
  • Relevant to the constituency
  • Not copyrighted material from another source for which there is not permission to disseminate.
     

How to Unsubscribe:

  • Follow the same steps used to subscribe, but click on the unsubscribe link.

Meetings and Activities

12th Annual Meeting
February 15, 2023

11th Annual Meeting (Virtual)
February 16, 2022

10th Annual Meeting (Virtual)
February 16, 2021

Ninth In-Person Meeting
February 25, 2020

Eighth In-Person Meeting
February 19, 2019

Seventh In-Person Meeting
February 1, 2018

Sixth In-Person Meeting
January 24, 2017

Fifth In-Person Meeting
January 14, 2016

Fourth In-Person Meeting
May 21, 2015

Third In-Person Meeting
November 18, 2014

Second In-Person Meeting
April 23, 2014

First In-Person Meeting
September 19-20, 2013

Plenary Session Minutes
Webinar: June 26, 2013

Related Resources

Genomics Education Resource Center (GenomeEd): an online repository of genomics educational materials, peer-reviewed by and for genetic counselors, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and physicians. To assist in curriculum development, resources are mapped to discipline-specific published genomic competencies.

Global Genetics and Genomics Community (G3C): Genomic healthcare video simulations of unfolding case scenarios. Interview "patients" at your own pace and complete supplemental educational activities; includes assessments and a genomic expert commentary. ISCC has provided input for module development.

"Training Residents in Genomics" (TRIG): To prepare healthcare providers for genomic medicine, this website provides resources for workshops and courses. The "Universal Genomics Instructor Handbook and Toolkit," developed through the ISCC Innovative Approaches Working Group, is available on the website. These exercises can be adapted to almost any medical specialty and workshops have been held at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Neurology, American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Heart Association.

Recorded Webinars

Archived Articles

Archived Case Studies

Last updated: June 2, 2023