5AM Solutions, a company that develops innovative software solutions for academic, government, commercial, and non-profit life sciences organizations, announced the launch of the Family Helix Community, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people use family history to improve human health. The Family Helix Community is designed to provide an interactive forum for researchers, epidemiologists and clinicians so they may collaborate. The site also provides free online tools for patients to securely record, track and store family health history.
“To date, efforts to collect health histories have resulted in the development of disparate tools and technologies to gather and disseminate information from patients to caregivers to researchers,” noted Brent Gendleman, 5AM Solutions CEO. “We were happy to provide initial funding and support of the Family Helix Community, where people can exchange ideas and information on the best and most efficient ways to define and accurately collect family health data in a standardized manner.”
Both 5AM Solutions and Family Helix are working closely with the National Coalition for Health Integration in a strategic partnership to ensure development of online tools meets the needs of patients and healthcare professionals.
The site includes portals for patients and professionals, as well as a tool where people can build their online health history (the service is offered in English and Spanish), a blog as well as information on important healthcare meetings taking place around the country.
“Patients and physicians aren’t the only ones interested in family health histories. Researchers are curious to measure how “it runs in the family” correlates to diagnosis, accords with genetic results, or actually predicts risk. Geneticists want to see testing results next to patient family histories because it gives them context beyond the dna. Etiologists, policy- and grant-makers want to understand the value and best ways to collect family health histories. Across the spectrum of science, health, government, and the personal, there is a need to explore, discuss, collaborate, and share questions and ideas and technologies around this issue. Family Helix exists to be a forum for those who are interested in the topic of family health history. Family Helix aims to foster awareness, collaboration, community, and communication that support the impact of family health history information on research, treatment, policy, and health.” – Leslie Power, Founder of 5AM Solutions
Power notes that “we seek to be the go-to source of information for the family health history community. This forum is wide open to those with an interest in the topic. We welcome you to join the conversation!”
