UCSF Children's Hospital Ranks Top in State
In pediatric care, UCSF Children's Hospital is No. 11, making it the highest-ranked pediatric center in California, according to the "America's Best Hospitals" ranking by U.S. News & World Report. This year, UCSF Medical Center moved up a spot to tie at sixth.

UCSF to Benefit from Children's Hospital Bond Measure
UC officials are heartened by voter approval of Proposition 61, the children's hospital bond measure, that authorizes $750 million in general obligation bonds for grants to children's hospitals. Each of the five UC children's hospitals are eligible for $30 million, which adds up to 20 percent of total funding from the proposition.

Institute of Medicine Elects Six UCSF Faculty
Dr. Philip D. Darney, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and Nancy S. Padian, director of international research for the AIDS Research Institute and associate director of research for Global Health Sciences -- both professors of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF -- were elected in October to the Institute of Medicine, along with four UCSF colleagues.

Tracking Birth Defects, Cancer Using Medical Genomics

A family has an unusually high incidence of various cancers and many members of the family also have subtle musculoskeletal or craniofacial abnormalities. Is there a connection?

Clinicians and researchers at UCSF have established the Medical Genomics Clinic to serve families with a family history of multiple neoplasias and congenital anomalies such as musculoskeletal anomalies and minor cardiac defects. The service recognition of a family with a cancer syndrome is important for several reasons, including the initiation of cancer surveillance, identification of relatives at increased cancer risk and recurrence-risk counseling for the family.

Clinic services include a comprehensive evaluation, including a dysmorphology examination of the proband and family, genetic counseling and follow-up services. Family members have the opportunity to enroll in research studies on the common genetic basis of cancers and birth defects.

Dr. Katherine A. Rauen, a medical geneticist and pediatrician, says investigators will apply array-based genome hybridization (array CGH) to scan for possible chromosomal aberrations at a significantly higher resolution than is possible with conventional cytogenetic techniques. The hope is that current these array-based comparisons can be used to locate common genetic pathways between the cancer and the abnormality, offering insight into the genetic basis of cancer as well as normal development, she says.

To contact Rauen or Nicola Stewart, a genetic counselor, please call the UCSF Cancer Risk Program at (415) 885-7779. A referral form is available online.

Medical Genetics (415) 476-2757

UCSF ChildrenÆs Hospital is a leader in comprehensive medical genetics testing, diagnostic evaluation, genetic counseling and treatment for adults and children with known or suspected genetic disorders or congenital anomalies. Our expertise includes inborn errors of metabolism, malformation syndromes, mental retardation syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, inherited neurologic disorders and familial cancer syndromes. Prenatal genetic counseling and diagnosis are provided in conjunction with the reproductive genetics services. We were the first to develop prenatal tests for sickle cell anemia.

Fall 2004 Table of Contents

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