Workshop Prioritizes Public Health Research Agenda

Newswise — Orofacial clefts (OFCs) affect approximately 6,800 births in the United States every year. While some genetic and environmental risk factors have been identified, there are still many nonsyndromic clefts that are not linked to these factors.

The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently conducted a workshop entitled "Prioritizing a Research Agenda for Orofacial Clefts" as reported in the July 2007 issue of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. Forty-five experts from the fields of epidemiology, public health, genetics, psychology, speech pathology, dentistry, health economics, and others participated in the workshop to review the current state of knowledge, identify knowledge gaps, and create a prioritized public health research agenda focused on these gaps.

The participants were divided into two groups to identify gaps in two major areas of public health research: (1) genetic and environmental risk factors and gene-environment interactions in the cause of OFCs and primary prevention of OFCs, and (2) long term outcomes such as psychological concerns, communication difficulties, health care costs, and effects on families of patients with OFCs. These groups identified 18 priority topics for future research that address significant public health research questions underpinning causation, pathogenesis, and effect of OFCs.

Collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts have already been initiated in some research areas and need to be strengthened and expanded to achieve the public health research goals. The primary public health goals from these priorities are: (1) to increase the capacity to prevent OFCs, and (2) to improve the quality of life and other long-term outcomes for children and families affected by OFCs.

To read the entire report on the workshop, click here: http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/cpcj_44_04_351-357.pdf.

The Cleft Palate"Craniofacial Journal is an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cleft Palate"Craniofacial Association. The journal reports on clinical research activities in cleft lip/palate and other craniofacial anomalies, together with research in related laboratory sciences. For more information on The Cleft Palate"Craniofacial Journal please, visit http://www.cpcj.allenpress.com.