Posted on Aug. 2: McMaster researcher leads genetics team

Genetics research has come a long way in Canada.

In fact, the progress has been so fast the government has created a new Ontario Advisory Committee on Genetics to guide them on existing and new genetic services.

And they've appointed McMaster's Ronald Carter to lead the way.

“Genetics used to be a small niche of medicine,” says the professor of pathology & molecular medicine at McMaster. “The laboratory technology was both esoteric and poorly developed, and the opportunities for effective cures very limited.

“Obviously, things have changed rapidly.”

There is growing need for a genetics advisory committee, says Carter, the committee's key adviser. “Particularly with the advent of the Human Genome Project and the flood of developments in diagnosis and therapy,” he says. “Part of this awareness stems from the anticipated price tag for these developments, but there is also a genuine concern that we need to be good at this and make sure we are doing the right thing.”

The need also arises from the advent of legal and political issues typified by disputes over gene patents, the ethics of predictive testing and the moral dilemmas posed by medically assisted reproduction and stem cell technologies, he says.

“There is recognition that expert advice is needed to ensure that we can critically appraise the costs, benefits, risks, ethics, access, providers and administration of genetic services in Ontario,” he says. “The committee will ensure there is a mandate covering all aspects of the provision of genetic services including evaluating outcomes, surveying new technologies and providing advice to the province.”

Carter is an expert in the field of medical genetics. The current president of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, became a fellow of the College in 1991, and was also a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics in 1993.

He has also been involved in a variety of research programs including gene therapy and diagnostic laboratory genetics research.

Carter was appointed to Chedoke-McMaster Hospital (now Hamilton Health Sciences) in 1990, and directed the Regional Cytogenetics Laboratory in Hamilton from 1991 to 1999. He is currently head of Cancer Genetics for the Regional Genetics Service of South Central Ontario/Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, and a consultant in pathology for the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, Cancer Care Ontario.

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