LawSeq℠: Building a Sound Legal Foundation for Translating Genomics into Clinical Application

lawseq
Sponsor
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) & National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health
Award Amount
$2 Million
Award Number
1-R01-HG008605
Project Dates
06/06/2016 to 05/31/2022
Project Links
LawSeqSM Genomics Law Database
National Working Group
LawSeqSM Supplemental Materials
Principal Investigator

Susan M. Wolf, JD (University of Minnesota) 
Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD (Vanderbilt University)
Frances Lawrenz, PhD (University of Minnesota)

This innovative 3-year project, based cooperatively at the University of Minnesota and Vanderbilt University, has convened a national Working Group of top legal and scientific experts to analyze current US federal and state law and regulation on translational genomics and to generate consensus guidance on what the law should be. The federal Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) aims to use genomics and other analyses to accelerate development of more powerful and tailored treatments for cancer and other diseases. Yet federal and state genomics law is unclear and poorly understood, presenting a major obstacle to progress. 

The project team will build a searchable online database of relevant law and an annotated bibliography for free public access, systematically collect and analyze a range of stakeholder inputs, convene a national public conference, and publish analyses and recommendations to help shape the law to support genomic medicine.

Project outcomes include: 

  • A resource-rich website that includes searchable databases of relevant federal and state laws and secondary sources;
  • Consensus recommendations on what genomics law should be in four key domains (liability, quality, privacy & access, and framework);
  • Publications by Working Group members offering further targeted analyses;
  • Empirical analyses of perceived legal issues facing genomics;
  • A national conference held online in 2020 on legal barriers to genomic research & precision medicine with archived videos available for free public access;
  • A national conference at the University of Minnesota in 2019 on the law of genomics with archived videos available for free public access;
  • A national conference at Meharry Medical College in 2018 on how law can support health equity in genomic medicine with archived videos for free public access;
  • A national conference at the University of Minnesota in 2017 on the future of informed consent in research and translational medicine with archived videos for free public access; 
  • A 2018 symposium in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics on “The Future of Informed Consent in Research & Translational Medicine"; 
  • A 2019 symposium in Ethnicity and Disease on “Law, Genomic Medicine & Health Equity: How Can Law Support Genomics and Precision Medicine to Advance the Health of Underserved Populations?; and
  • A 2020 symposium in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics on “LawSeqSM: Building a Legal Foundation for Translating Genomics Into Clinical Application."

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