SCIENCE FOR POLICYMAKERS

Abstract

It is all too common for politicians and policymakers to be confronted with decisions on scientific topics that they know little to nothing about. This project seeks to help create resources for politicians and policymakers about cancer biology and genetic testing as well as establishing a format for future resources to follow. This project focused on Lung, Skin, and Childhood cancer as well as Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia. These topics were chosen as they have either seen recent vast improvements such as the Elexacaftor–Tezacaftor–Ivacaftor treatment for Cystic Fibrosis or could be significantly helped by policy initiatives such as Skin Cancer. Included within this project are 8 scientific article briefs from journals such as Nature, 3 topic summaries on Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome, and Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a resource containing all the definitions of terms covered throughout the project, 2 10-minute videos covering the basic concepts in genetics and cancer biology, and the template that was used to create the scientific article briefs. These materials have been compiled into a free, publicly available website for all to use at the link below.