Centre for Genetic Education
Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka
Braće Branchetta 20, 51000 Rijeka
Phone: +385 51 651 131
Phone: +385 51 651 246
Fax: + 385 51 678 896
Contact
Head:
- Assoc. Prof. Nina Pereza, MD, PhD
E-mail: nina.pereza@uniri.hr
About the Centre
The Centre for Genetic Education was founded in 2020 with the primary goal of raising the level of genetic literacy among physicians who are not medical geneticists and other health professionals who are in any way involved in the care of patients with (possible) genetic disorders, but also among the general public, primarily patients and their families.
The reasons for establishing the Centre for Genetic Education stem from the large disparity between, on the one hand, the technological possibilities that have made medical genetics one of the fastest developing medical specialisations and, on the other hand, the lack of timely breakthroughs in the efforts to raise genetic literacy among all the interest groups mentioned above.
The Centre’s main goal will be achieved through scientific research and educational and professional activities. All scientific research will be aimed at improving education, and different forms of needs-based education will enable the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes towards medical genetics. The aforementioned includes postgraduate specialist study for physicians, lifelong learning courses and workshops for health professionals, workshops for the general public, patients and their families, and designing educational materials. Through professional activities and cooperation with expert centres in Europe and the world, the Centre will actively participate in the improvement of genetic education by participating and organising professional meetings.
Staff
- Head:
- Assoc. Prof. Nina Pereza, MD, PhD
- Deputy Head:
- Prof. Saša Ostojić, MD, PhD (sasa.ostojic@uniri.hr)
- Expert Associate:
- Asst. Prof. Sanja Dević Pavlić, M.Sc., PhD (sanja.devic@uniri.hr)
- Honorary member/advisor:
- Prof. Borut Peterlin, MD, PhD, president of the European Society of Human Genetics (borut.peterlin@guest.arnes.si)
- Members:
- Prof. Smiljana Ristić, M.Sc., PhD (smiljana.ristic@uniri.hr)
- Prof. Alena Buretić-Tomljanović, M.Sc., PhD (alenabt@uniri.hr)
- Assoc. Prof. Nada Starčević-Čizmarević, M.Sc., PhD (nadasc@uniri.hr)
- Asst. Prof. Jadranka Vraneković, PhD (jadranka.vranekovic@uniri.hr)
- Asst. Prof. Martina Mavrinac, PhD (martina.mavrinac@uniri.hr)
- Anita Barišić, MD, PhD (anita.barisic@medri.uniri.hr)
- Gaia Bellesi, student
- Marija Grković, student
- Laura Radoš, student
Centre activities
Puzzles of Heredity workshop
Puzzles of Heredity workshop is a newly designed project by the Centre for Genetic Education and CroMSIC – Croatian Medical Students’ International Committee. The workshop is intended for children of early school and preschool age (first to fourth grade), and the goal is to introduce them to the structural organisation of the human body, the basic concepts of genetics and genetic inheritance and to raise awareness about the importance of accepting the differences between humans and other living beings, which arise from the inheritance process.
The workshop is conducted by genetic educators from the Centre for Genetic Education of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, together with specially trained medical students – student genetic educators. Educational materials used at the workshop are a picture book and three didactic toys. The picture book was written by medical geneticists, while the toys were designed and created by a preschool teacher who is a Montessori school counsellor. The toys were made by the company Linit design d.o.o.
Frontiers in genetics – the importance of genetic literacy and education in medicine
The Centre for Genetic Education is the initiator and organiser of the thematic issue dedicated to the importance of genetic literacy and education in medicine in the prestigious scientific journal Frontiers in Genetics. Almost 60 respectable experts from all over the world participated in the making of this thematic issue.
Some of the topics covered include:
- the state of the current level of genetic literacy among medical students, non-genetic health professionals, patients and the general public
- the current state of activities and options for genetic education of medical students, medical geneticists, non-genetic health professionals, patients and the general public
- needs and possibilities of genetic education for patients with rare diseases
- future directions for increasing the level of genetic literacy among medical students, non-genetic health professionals, patients and the general public.