GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — There are a lot of things that most people take for granted – don’t think much about. Most people can look at their parents and see their own genetic makeup and know the family history of various health issues.
Not Alex Tomalski.
Alex was born in South Korea and when he was a few weeks old, he was adopted by an American family of Polish ancestry and grew up in Raleigh, with knowledge of that family; institutional knowledge.
“For me growing up, it was always just what I’ve been told from my parents and not having any family background,” says Alex. “Getting older and having and starting my own family, there are common risks that I just needed to be aware of. So, this program gave me that opportunity as were before, maybe didn’t need to know or didn’t want to know, but when priorities change and now with a family coming along, these are just things that I needed to know ahead of time.”
The program that Alex refers to is a new one from Cone Health. They’ve partnered with a dozen or so other health systems and universities to do gene mapping on anyone to learn what may help them avoid a health crisis down the road.