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genetic support awareness week 2006

news | events

• Seminar: Genetics, Variations and You
• Grand Rounds: Scientia est Potentia
• Support in the Square
• Trivia Night
• Art Of... Awards
• Sponsorship

Sunday 2nd July to Saturday 8th July 2006

(with bonus Grand Rounds and Public Seminar)

The first ever Genetic Support Awareness Week was held in July of this year. This was an amazing week (or, in fact, month, since events overflowed into the last few weeks of June), which resulted in over 500 people contacting the GSNV during between mid June and the end of July!

Seminar: Genetics, Variations and You - Wednesday 21 June

Geneticists from around the world were in Melbourne in June to plan a global database of human gene variation. In conjunction with the Genomic Disorders Research Centre and the City of Melbourne, GSNV organised a public seminar at the Melbourne Town Hall, featuring scientists involved in this work. Speakers including Prof. Charles Scriver, Professor of Paediatrics and Human Genetics at McGill University, Canada, Dr Agnes Bankier, Head of Victorian Clinical Genetics Services and Helen Travers, of the Genetic Alliance, USA, described the manner in which genetic variation helped create humankind through the process of evolution, and its involvement in most human conditions, and went on to discuss the role of genetic variation, the need to share information, and the implications for privacy and people with genetic disorders. The seminar was attended by around 150 people, and Leah was bombarded by so many interested members of the public at the end of the seminar that she ran out of brochures!

RCH Grand Rounds: Scientia est Potentia - Wednesday 28 June

As the conclusion of the GSNV's 18-month Advocacy Project, Claire Weigall, our Advocacy Worker, presented a seminar titled "Scientia est potentia - Knowledge is power" to an audience of health professionals at the Royal Children's Hospital. She described her work in training and supporting community consultants, highlighting the fundamental importance of translating medical knowledge into laypersons terms in order to achieve improved community consultation (consumer participation) in policy and service development in genetics. The seminar was very well received, and was a fine conclusion to a very important project... our only complaint is that we couldn't keep Claire with us for longer!

Support in the Square - Tuesday 4th July

Were you at Support in the Square? If not, you missed out on a great opportunity to network with our support groups, and find out more about who we are and what we do. Since a picture is worth a thousand words (and takes much less time to read), we thought we'd share a few images from the day with you... Left: Allison welcomes visitors with a Genetic Health Services Victoria balloon. Below (L-R): Leah and Catherine with the GSNV banner, Sharon shows off her GSNV pen to Lindy, visiting from Cancer Genetics at the RMH; Natashia raises awareness of Haemophilia; Sally is the smiling face of the Marfan Association.

The GSNV was also joined by representatives of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group Australia, Coeliac Society of Victoria, Collective of Self Help Groups, Cystic Fibrosis Victoria, Fragile X Association of Victoria, Australian Leukodystrophy Support Group, Metabolic and Dietary Disorders Association, MPS Society, Parent Support Network, Porphyria Association, Immune Deficiency Foundation Australia, Australian Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation, Short Statured People of Australia, Spinomuscular Atrophy Support Group Victoria, Thalassaemia Society Victoria and Victorian Turners Syndrome Association.

Trivia Night - Friday 7th July

The GSNV’s Trivia Night and fundraiser was held on Friday 7th July at Rydges North Melbourne. Wise Guys Trivia provided the questions, and the GSNV was fortunate to receive sponsorship from a very large number of shops and organisations who provided us with Trivia, raffle, silent auction and game prizes. 53 people attended this social evening to eat, drink, be merry, answer questions and applaud the recipients of the 2006 ‘Art of…’ Awards

The 'Art Of...' Awards - Friday 7th July

Congratulations to the amazing recipients of the 2006 ‘Art Of…’ Awards

We would like to congratulate all our nominees on their work in the field – we had a very difficult time deciding who should receive the awards, as all nominees were truly exceptional. All nominees received a certificate of commendation and a bottle of wine, and our awardees were each given a beautiful piece of photographic artwork from the ‘Snapshots of Maribyrnong’ project, which celebrates the skills, creativity and resources of people with a disability.

Our Sponsors

The GSNV was privileged to receive sponsorship for GSAW from an amazing range of people and organisations... we'd like to thank the following major sponsors:

RE Ross Trust - who provided funding for Support in the Square
City of Melbourne - who provided the venue and organisation for the Public Seminar, and waived the venue hire for Support in the Square
Rydges North Melbourne - who waived the venue hire for the Trivia Night
Murdoch Children's Research Institute - who provided the Art Of... Award Trophies

We would also like to thank the following businesses, who provided a truly gorgeous range of prizes for our Trivia Night:

Babushkas ..... Baggage Boutique ..... Bee Sweet Accessories ..... Coburg Coffee and Kitchen Centre ..... Envy Kitchenware ..... Haven of Art and Gifts ..... Healthy Skin and Body ..... Katrian Jewelry and Art ..... Kitchen and Homewares ..... Lush ..... McGuigan’s Wines ..... The Mediterranean Wholesalers ..... Crime Ink ..... Southern Manchester

Thank you all for your support!

For more information on anything you’ve read here, please contact Catherine or Leah in the GSNV office on (03) 8341-6315.