JScreen.org: Saving Lives One Swab at a Time
When it comes to reproductive and hereditary cancer screening, JScreen saves lives – and you don’t even need to leave the sofa!
If there’s one thing we have learned from the pandemic, it’s how important it is to take care of our health. With breast cancer as well as prostate and ovarian cancer awareness months in the fall, and staggering statistics showing that half of all men and a third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime, JScreen, a non-profit at-home screening test, can tell you about your risk for hereditary cancer in the record-breaking time of three weeks or less. This home education and carrier screening program based out of Emory University, which started in 2013 with just reproductive genetic testing, now tests for hereditary risk of over 40 types of cancer.
While they have now reached tens of thousands of clients, JScreen was originally born when a Jewish couple went to get tested in order to determine if either of them was a carrier for certain diseases, especially those prevalent in their community, before starting a family. However, they were only being screened for a limited number of diseases and their child wound up with a severe genetic disease, making her unable to walk or talk. They eventually came to the Emory Department of Human Genetics, known for their amazing team of genetic counselors who continue to lead the way for this public health initiative. ReproGEN is so accurate that they decided to expand with the equally crucial CancerGEN test.
According to Hillary Regelman, Director of National Outreach and Marketing, this lifesaving organization, which can make you aware of certain health risks, also has an aggressive awareness campaign underway.
“This is not just a test, it is extremely comprehensive and JScreen is for everyone,” says Hillary Regelman. “If both parents are carriers of a genetic disease, a baby can get it. JScreen cancer testing, which is available to everyone 21 years of age and up, is also so critical. With just a simple saliva test, we can save a life. The more people we test, the more lives we save,” adds Hillary.
All you have to do to receive your simple at-home test is just sign up online, provide a sample and use pre-paid postage – let’s just say that they have been pandemic proof since before the pandemic!
JScreen provides hands-on care once results are in with their licensed genetic counselors who explain the results simply and efficiently via phone or teleconferencing with the patient, and send reports to the patient and the healthcare provider so that appropriate action can be taken.
ReproGEN currently costs $149 and CancerGEN is $199. JScreen offers financial assistance to those who qualify. The proof of their passion for saving lives is in the incredible stories they hear, as well as the healthy babies that are born. As the JScreen team likes to say – “we are a small team with a huge footprint.”
jscreen.org
