Cooke Scotland’s Community Benefit Fund has awarded the University of Edinburgh’s Development Trust (Viking Genes Fund) £10,000 in support of the Viking Genes Shetland Community Screening Project.
The initiative will provide 5,000 Shetland residents with the opportunity to take part in a free genetic screening programme, designed specifically for Shetland. The programme will identify individuals at higher genetic risk of developing life-threatening conditions, enabling volunteers to be notified of actionable findings and guided towards the appropriate NHS pathway of care. In addition to identifying those at risk, the project will highlight individuals who may not be directly affected but who carry an elevated risk of passing on certain genetic conditions to their children.
Professor Jim Flett Wilson, who leads the Viking Genes programme at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, commented: “It is fantastic to see this donation from Cooke Scotland which will help in getting the Viking Genes Fund to the level where we can start to appoint staff.”
Sandra Laurenson OBE, Chair of Viking Genes Shetland, said: “Cooke Scotland’s commitment to the local community is very welcome. This generous donation will help empower people from across the isles to learn if they are at risk of one of the genetic variants more common in Shetland, improving their healthcare and saving lives.”
Katrine Johnson, Unst Office Manager and member of Cooke Scotland’s Shetland Community Benefit Fund Committee, said: “We are proud to support the Viking Genes study and its important work in Shetland. As a family company rooted in rural and coastal communities, we’re pleased this funding will be directed towards research with lasting impact that has such clear relevance and benefit for the people living in the isles where we call home, and for future generations.”
A voluntary committee of Shetland community leaders has been constituted to help raise £1 million to enable widespread participation. The screening programme will test for up to 20 genetic variants found to be prevalent within the Shetland population and be the first part of Scotland to be genetically screened as part of a preventative healthcare campaign.
Lead photograph: From left-right; David Brown, Cooke Scotland Shetland Regional Manager; Sandra Laurenson, OBE, Chair of Viking Genes Shetland; and Peter Malcolmson, committee member of Viking Genes Shetland.