BOX 4-6Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Genomic Advisory Panel

In 2015, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center established a genomic advisory panel (GAP) as a subcommittee to its IRB, which had a diverse membership, including physicians, scientists, psychologists, patient representatives, and clinical research administrators. The panel was charged with reviewing genetic results that were brought to its attention and advising investigators as to whether the results should be returned to participants or family designees. When a laboratory identifies a finding that may warrant return, it is sent to the GAP, which then reviews the finding, the patient's chart, and the consent documentation. If the finding is clinically actionable and the patient has consented to be re-contacted, the treating physician will then be notified about the research finding and can refer the patient for confirmatory testing. The development of these standard operating procedures by the panel ensures a standardized institutional approach to the handling of incidental genetic findings.

SOURCE: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Comment provided to the Committee on the Return of Individual-Specific Research Results Generated in Research Laboratories, Washington, DC, October 20, 2017. Available by request through the National Academies' Public Access Records Office.