Cell & Gene Medicine Education

The Foundation’s Education Program reaches beyond academic and industry boundaries to ensure the public, patients, professionals, caregivers, and others are able to achieve a broad acceptance and understanding of the safe and effective therapeutic options cell and gene medicine may provide.

The Foundation for Cell and Gene Medicine runs three key initiatives led by experts in patient advocacy, communications, health economics, patient access, precision medicine, patient education, and issue advocacy. The Foundation partners and collaborators are dedicated, knowledgeable, passionate and have deep experience drawing together scientific and medical personnel, industry leaders, patients, and patient support organizations.

We build communities because we are a community, and these partnerships are essential to achieving our goals.

The Foundation for Cell & Gene Medicine Research is the primary international resource for education related to the acceptance of ethical cell and gene medicine. 

Key initiatives and program activities include:

• HealingGenes.org educational portal

• “Speaking of Genes” nomenclature project

• State Rare Disease Education Initiative (STRiDE)

• Information kits for patient advocacy groups, medical societies, and other constituencies

• Webinars & briefings on contemporary issues in cell & gene medicine

• Social media campaign on the value of gene medicine

• Video FAQ and other ways to reach out to new audiences and stakeholders

• Speaking engagements and participation in conferences and events

The flagship program of the Foundation’s educational initiatives, and is aimed at providing the public with accurate, jargon-free information about the science, benefits, limitations, and possible risks of therapeutic cell and gene medicine technologies. This program delivers meaningful information to patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and others seeking to understand cell and gene medicines.

Key examples include:

The Nomenclature Project

“Speaking of Genes” is a glossary of accurate, well-defined and easily understandable terms developed by, and distributed across, a variety of stakeholders – patients, advocates, clinicians, researchers, journalists, industry – to address the critical need for a universally accepted taxonomy and language we can ALL use to communicate more effectively about cell and gene medicines.

Patient Organization Toolkit

This toolkit equips rare disease patient organizations with accurate, practical tools to deliver cell and gene medicine education to their members and constituencies.

Educational Webinars

Like the recent “Potential COVID-19 Treatments Using Cell Therapies” webinar that reached ~450 people from 5 continents. These webinars raise knowledge of cell & gene therapy’s potentials for the contemporary crisis and upcoming challenges.