6/26/2009: Participants Needed for PGD Study

An innovative study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is exploring how couples who are at high risk for passing on a childhood genetic disorder (such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth) make a decision to use or forgo the procedure of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).

The Principal Investigator, Dr. Patricia Hershberger is a nurse-researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Nursing, and she is actively looking for couples who:

1. Are at high risk for passing on a childhood genetic disorder such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth to their future children
2. Have talked with their doctor within the past 3 months about using PGD to prevent the transmission of a childhood genetic disorder
3. Have decided to: use PGD, forgo the use of PGD, or are still contemplating the use of PGD
4. Are 18 years of age or older, and
5. Are willing to discuss their decision experience either over the telephone or by e-mail

For more information about the study, please visit http://www.uic.edu/nursing/fertilitydecisions/PGD/index.html.

If you are interested in participating or would like to discuss the study in more detail, please contact Dr. Hershberger at phersh@uic.edu or call toll-free 1-888-330-2104.