Genetics and Family History Advisory Council

The Genetics and Family History Advisory Council is dedicated in the honor of Dennis Ahnen, MD, a Medical Advisory Board member and legend in the field of colorectal cancer prevention and control.

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Continuing the Fight in Dr. Ahnen’s Honor

Dennis Ahnen made an immeasurable impact through his curiosity and passion for helping patients and families with a zest for life. In his honor, Fight CRC and the medical experts serving on this advisory council will help advise on patient education materials and research, in addition to practicing approaches to help identify high-risk patients and families with genetic syndromes for earlier screening. The Genetics and Family History Advisory Council will also advise the Early Age Onset Workgroup to advance their work in reducing cancer in young adults through better identification of family history and advancing the research and policy agenda.

Genetics and Family History Advisory Council Members

Peter Stanich Headshot

Peter P. Stanich, MD

Gastroenterologist and Associate Professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Heather Hampel headshot

Heather Hampel, MS, LGC

Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology and Research; and Associate Director of the Division of Cancer Genomics at City of Hope National Cancer Center
Jennifer Kolb headshot

Jennifer Kolb, MD, MS

Gastroenterology Fellow from The University of Colorado Hospital
Swati Patel

Swati G. Patel, MD, MS

Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Center; and Staff Physician at the Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Affairs Hospital
Jennifer Weiss headshot

Jennifer M. Weiss, MD, MS

Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; and Director of the UW Gastrointestinal Genetics Clinic

Sign On Opportunity: Universal Tumor Screening for Lynch Syndrome

Join Fight CRC’s Genetics and Family History Advisory Council in advocating for universal tumor screening for Lynch Syndrome! 

Universal tumor screening of all newly diagnosed colorectal and endometrial cancer patients is one approach used to identify cases of Lynch syndrome. This can provide prognostic and treatment information for the patients with several studies showing a better prognosis for cancers with microsatellite instability and convincing data that these tumors respond well to immune checkpoint inhibition therapy.


We propose that the Commission on Cancer (COC) adopt a new National Cancer Database (NCDB) accountability or quality improvement measure for use with standard 7.3 the Quality Improvement Initiative regarding universal tumor screening for Lynch syndrome. This standard would be added to the colorectal and endometrial cancer sections as follows: Universal tumor screening for defective mismatch repair performed using either IHC for the four MMR proteins or MSI testing by PCR or NGS. The percent of tumors that receive this important screening would be reported.