Alexandra E. Shields, PhD
Director, Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations,
& Health Disparities
Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy, Harvard University
Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital

June 13, 2006

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of our Conference Planning Committee (Ken Olden, Kevin Weiss, Kim Fortun, Rosalind Wright and myself), we want to first thank each of you for making time to join us and participate in our new Center’s first national workshop, “Enhancing Capacity to Study Gene-Environment Interactions in Complex Traits: Implications for Health Disparities.” Our Center, funded by a NHGRI-ESLI grant with additional support from Harvard University and MGH/Partners Healthcare, aims to develop new knowledge and policy recommendations to enhance the potential that genomics research will lead to improved public health and reduced health disparities. This Center has projects that, collectively, address multiple stages in the research-to-practice continuum where critical decisions affecting health outcomes for at-risk groups are made.

Our upcoming workshop focuses on issues at the very initial stages of the research process, where available data resources, methodologies and conceptual schemes (i.e. research infrastructure) critically impact the kinds of studies done and knowledge produced. Our goal is to identify ways that research infrastructure can be developed to understand complex gene-environment interactions in highly prevalent, complex diseases. It is precisely in these clinical areas where genomics holds the greatest opportunities to improve public health and reduce health disparities. Producing robust, affordable measures of “the environment” for studies of gene-environment interactions is clearly one part of the challenge, and is the specific focus of the workshop. We are aware that many people and organizations have already made considerable headway in this arena and that many kinds of expertise will be required to be successful. In this workshop and those following, we hope to bring many of these people and organizations into conversation, knowing that sustained, collaborative, interdisciplinary effort will be needed if we are to be successful. Your input will be critical. Together, we can conceptualize and plan for research infrastructure development that will support both cutting-edge science and improved health among our nation’s most underserved populations.

As you know, we will begin with a reception and dinner on the evening of June 20 th at The Harvard Faculty Club, with opening comments by Patricia King , Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, Ethics and Public Policy at Georgetown Law Center. On the 21 st, the day will be divided into three parts. We will begin with short (10-minute) presentations on the “state of the science” in relevant fields. These presentations will quickly review the research that has been done thus far on the role of genetic, environmental and social factors in human disease, with comment – where appropriate – on how particular organizations are poised to play a role in accelerating collaborative efforts to understand gene-environment interactions and health disparities. We will then move to a panel discussion in which panelists will outline challenges they have faced “on the ground” attempting to capture the impact of environmental exposures in research on asthma/respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. In our last session, we will discuss and attempt to prioritize measures, concepts and other research infrastructure that need to be developed to support robust, public health oriented gene-environment studies.

In order to make the most of our limited time together next week, please take the time to review the enclosed background materials prior to our meeting. We have identified a small handful of articles (“Priority Reading”) that we would like to ask each participant to review in advance of the workshop. This will help us create some initial common ground for the ensuring discussions. We have also included additional articles (“Background Reading”) that we thought might be of particular interest.

We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge next week and anticipate a productive and engaging meeting. Please contact me at (617) 724-1048 if you have any questions, further thoughts or suggestions prior to the meeting. Please contact Molly McGinn-Shapiro directly regarding any logistical concerns at

(617) 726-0296. Thank you in advance for your unique contribution to the group’s efforts.

With warm regards,

Alexandra E. Shields, PhD