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In this paper we describe the analysis, planning, design, development, implementation and evaluation of a new online Graduate Certificate in Genomic Counselling and Variant Interpretation (GCGCVI) at The University of British Columbia (UBC). Genetic counselling is now a prerequisite for diagnostic genomic testing in many countries, demanding that genetic counselling practitioners have up‐to‐the‐moment genomic counselling skills and knowledge. Current practitioners reported a desire for more training in this rapidly developing field: our international survey revealed substantial interest in online continuing education addressing themes such as testing and clinical bioinformatics, applied variant interpretation, evidence‐based genomic counselling, and other emerging genomic topics. However, our market analysis found no post‐graduate program globally that offered such training. To fill this gap, our oversight team of genetic counsellors and geneticists therefore guided development of curriculum and materials, and online learning specialists developed rigorous interactive asynchronous online graduate courses through collaboration with subject matter experts, following best practices in online learning design. Since launch in September 2020, we have gathered learner feedback using surveys and focus groups, and we have used learning analytics to understand how learners engaged with each other and with course materials. Together, these have helped us understand learner behaviour and guide the continuous process of design improvement to support the learning goals of this audience of professional learners. Our courses have been reviewed and approved by the UBC Faculty of Medicine, UBC Senate, and the Province of British Columbia Ministries of Advanced Education and Health, and assessed by the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC, USA) and the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC) to enable learners to receive North American continuing education credits. To date, 151 individuals from 18 countries have succeeded in one or more course and 43 have completed the entire certificate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background There is a strong maternal parent-of-origin effect in determining susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS). One hypothesis is that an abnormal intrauterine milieu leading to impaired fetal development could plausibly also result in increased susceptibility to MS. A possible marker for this intrauterine insult is the presence of a non-fatal congenital anomaly. Methods We investigated whether or not congenital anomalies are associated with MS in a population-based cohort. We identified 7063 MS index cases and 2655 spousal controls with congenital anomaly information from the Canadian Collaborative Project on Genetic Susceptibility to MS (CCPGSMS). Results The frequency of congential anomalies were compared between index cases and controls. No significant differences were found. Conclusions Congenital anomalies thus do not appear to be associated with MS. However, we did not have complete data on types and severity of congenital anomalies or on maternal birth history and thus this study should be regarded as preliminary.

We thank Compute Canada for the Research Allocation Competitions allocation, which facilitated our analysis of the IMAG INE and EGA genomes, and Julia Handra for coordinating the STR molecular testing of the clinical samples. Genome-wide sequencing as a first-tier screening test for short tandem repeat expansions. [Extracted from the article]

Background: There is a well-documented increase in the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) when migrating from a region of low prevalence to one of high prevalence., Objective: We present here an investigation of MS prevalence and candidate environmental and genetic risk factors among Iranian immigrants to British Columbia (BC), Canada., Methods: MS cases of Iranian ancestry were ascertained from a population-based Canadian study. We collected blood samples for genetic and serological analyses, and administered a personal history questionnaire to the cases., Results: The crude prevalence of MS in this population of Iranian ancestry was 287/100,000 (95% CI: 229 - 356/100,000). MS cases were more likely to have a history of infectious mononucleosis (odds ratio (OR) = 7.5; p = 0.005) and smoking (OR = 17.0; p < 0.0001), as compared to healthy controls from previous studies in Iran. Cases were also more likely than controls to have been born between April and September (OR = 2.1; p = 0.019)., Conclusion: The prevalence of MS among Iranian immigrants to Canada is greater than the overall prevalence of MS in Iran by a factor of at least four, and is similar to that recently observed among Iranian immigrants in other western nations. No major genetic susceptibility variants were identified, suggesting the environment in Canada may be what is increasing the risk of MS in this population., (© The Author(s) 2014.)