Race the Helix Goes to Boston Festival of Genomics

Front Line Genomics, a London-based organization dedicated to delivering the benefits of genomics to patients faster, will be holding a Race the Helix Treadmill Challenge to benefit to Greenwood Genetic Center(GGC) Foundation at their upcoming Festival of Genomics in Boston.

The Festival of Genomics is an international event bringing together leaders in the fields of genetics and genomics. It is designed to be a rigorous, fun and transformational forum for industry, healthcare organizations, academic institutions and vendors. GGC Director, Dr. Steve Skinner, has been invited to speak along with other leaders in the field such as genomics pioneer, Craig Venter, and Harvard renowned geneticist, George Church.

Front Line employees, Freddy White and Carl Smith, were introduced to the Center in a meeting with GGC Cytogenetics Laboratory Director, Dr. Alka Chaubey at the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomic meeting in Salt Lake City, UT this spring. “Dr. Chaubey told us two amazing stories at that meeting – one was the story of how GGC was founded, the other was how they helped one family in particular give their daughter a chance at life,” shared White, Front Line’s Commercial Director. “Hearing about GGC and their work was inspirational, but what really hit us even harder was what that family did for GGC in return. To make sure other families get the same financial support and level of treatment they received, they started up a fundraising event for the GGC Foundation called Race the Helix.”

Race the Helix is a 5K race and 1 mile run/walk held on GGC’s Greenwood campus each fall. A satellite event, Race the Helix-Upstate, was also started this past spring in Greenville. To date these events have raised over $20,000 for the GGC Foundation to support the mission of the Greenwood Genetic Center by funding clinical services, diagnostic testing, research and educational programs.

Front Line Genomics has adopted Race the Helix as one of the social missions for their organization and plans to support the event by holding a ‘Race the Helix Treadmill Challenge’ at the Festival of Genomic on Boston on June 23-24. “The exhibit hall is very competitive with vendors from all areas of genomic medicine and technology in attendance,” shared White. “We will channel this competitive spirit with a treadmill on the exhibition floor. Teams will pay a registration fee and compete to cover as much distance as they can in 20 minutes with a goal of covering 100 miles by the end of the Festival.”

GGC will present prizes and Front Line Genomics is offering speaking time and promotional space in their magazine for the winning teams.

“We are so excited to have Front Line Genomics on board supporting Race the Helix in this very creative and visible way,” shared Chaubey. “This cause is so dear to our hearts and it is tremendous to see other organizations getting behind GGC, and having fun doing it!”

Updates of the Treadmill Challenge will be posted on GGC’s Facebook and Twitter feeds throughout the event. For those wishing to contribute to Race the Helix,
visit the GGC Foundation’s website.