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The University of Southampton
Clinical Ethics, Law and Society

Dr Mirjam Plantinga and Dr Gillian Crawford have been awarded PERu public engagement funding

Published: 12 December 2017

Dr Mirjam Plantinga and Dr Gillian Crawford have received funding from the University of Southampton’s Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu) for the research engagement activity ‘Engaging with parents of the future about the offer of genetic screening before pregnancy’.

Together with Dr Kathryn Woods-Townsend from LifeLab , Mirjam and Gillian will explore what young people think about a new genetic test that makes it possible for couples considering parenthood to know whether their future baby has an increased chance of having a serious genetic disease. Students from a sixth form college will be asked to critically analyse a decision-aid for this preconception carrier screening (PCS) test and debate the ethical and societal implications of offering such a test in healthcare. In doing so, critical thinking will be stimulated and effective ways of engaging with lay audiences about the issues surrounding genetic risks will be explored.

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