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My heart is so very grateful to ConnectMy Variant. What an honour it is to have this scholarship named after my daughter, Ashley Blair Doyle.  She was deeply inquisitive of her ancestral lineage which ConnectMy Variant assisted, providing more information relating to her familial hereditary cancer gene variation. Ashley was a huge advocate to the public at large and more importantly, sharing the findings with other family members. She felt it was imperative they be aware and informed of this hereditary disease and the prevention of future genetic cancer. 

The students benefiting from this scholarship will gain an insurmountable knowledge base in the field of genetics. Thank you to Dr. Brian Shirts, president and founder of ConnectMy Variant and its board members for establishing the “Ashley Blair Doyle Scholarship Fund.” This will certainly open doors for applicants’ futures in the schooling of hereditary disease prevention. 

Thanks in advance to everyone in support of this scholarship and in memory and legacy of my daughter, Ashley. 

As Ashley’s father I will be forever grateful to Dr. Shirts and ConnectMyVariant for establishing this scholarship fund in her name. As much as this is beyond any legacy a parent could ever hope for, more importantly is the knowledge that in ultimately helping others it goes to both the heart and essence of what my daughter’s wonderous spirit was all about. 

Receiving this scholarship has been life-changing, and I hope it can continue to support other ConnectMyVariant volunteers dedicated to hereditary cancer prevention!

Ashley was an amazing advocate for cancer prevention among her family and community. I'm grateful to have known her. This scholarship is a fitting tribute to her memory.

Ashley and Brian both spoke to me personally about my diagnosis and genetics and helped me understand how I could use my knowledge to help others. They have done such good work, and I love how this scholarship means Ashley will continue to do so. 

In memory of Ashley Blair Doyle and her tireless efforts to educate not only her family but others  as well.  She gave her time, resources and ultimately her life in hopes that others can avoid the same journey she was on.


For my beautiful Ashley. It’s been one year since you left and today I honour you with this donation. 

Thankful for the work of ConnectMyVariant to help me connect with distant relatives so that we can try to spare lives from hereditary cancer. 

Clare and James are delighted to support this scholarship.

ConnectMyVariants work in the community saves lives! 

Several people in my family had their lives saved by the work ConnectMyVariant does in preventing hereditary cancer.

ConnectMyVariant's mission is to end hereditary disease by bringing families together.

ConnectMyVariant is an educational health-focused 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports individuals and families with hereditary disease in their early detection and prevention efforts. We provide unique value by leveraging our evidenced-based family connection protocols to help people identify other at-risk relatives and help those relatives access genetic testing so that they can get optimal medical care. ConnectMyVariant brings people with the same genetic risk together through our variant database and community engagement events to share experiences and find common ancestors. ConnectMyVariant also works to increase awareness of the benefits of family outreach among physicians, others who provide prevention care, and the broader genealogy community.
 
Our key activities are:
   - Working with patients to implement personalized family outreach plans
   - Interactive educational workshops about sharing information on inherited disease risk
   - Variant specific family reunions to share stories and plan outreach to cousins
   - Genealogy assistance to help connect individuals in variant groups
   - Individual equity and inclusion grants for family and community outreach

Need and Impact:
When hereditary disease risk is known, family outreach has been proven to be the most effective and cost-effective intervention for early detection and prevention. This family outreach, also known as cascade testing, is recommended by multiple guidelines. Despite overwhelming evidence, family outreach assistance is not reimbursed by insurance or integrated into healthcare. Many people suffer and die from hereditary disease that could have been prevented or caught early.
 
We have shown that our strategies to encourage family outreach can act as a communication multiplier. Our pilot research at the University of Washington showed that this approach enhanced patient experience, was considered ethical, and was appreciated by newly identified relatives. Our approach is low-cost and is 25 to 50 times more effective than awareness and education interventions that target the general population.

Equity and Inclusion:
ConnectMyVariant is committed to being a leader for equity, diversity, and inclusion in hereditary disease prevention. ConnectMyVariant’s goal is to spread awareness among all individuals and families about inherited disease risk. All project staff, participants, and partners in ConnectMyVariant have an equal voice in developing innovative ways to improve hereditary disease outreach and prevention for all people. By fostering a diverse and inclusive community, we can provide knowledge and opportunities that have been historically inaccessible to millions of people.

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ConnectMyVariant is pleased to announce the establishment of the Ashley Doyle Scholarship Fund, a tribute to the memory and life of Ashley Blair Doyle. Ashley was a fearless and tireless advocate for hereditary cancer prevention in general and especially for family outreach as an effective tool in hereditary cancer prevention. Developing a named scholarship will honor Ashley’s memory, support the cause that she was passionate about and will help further her goal of saving lives by preventing hereditary cancer.  
Ashley worked with Connect My Variant to inform as many close and distant relatives as possible and to let them know about genetic testing so that they would not have to go through what she did. The fund in memory of Ashley Blair Doyle is dedicated to furthering the education and training of up to two people each year, who are students studying genetic counseling or new to the field, by providing them with financial assistance in order to help give them the opportunity to participate in the annual National Society of Genetic Counselors’ meeting and trainings, with the goal of helping more people expand their knowledge, skills and educational access to hereditary cancer and other disease prevention and family outreach. 

-- Canadian donors -- 
Please note that ConnectMyVariant is registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in the United States. Because it is a non-Canadian organization donations will not be tax-deductible for Canadian income tax purposes. Our donation processor, Every.org does not convert to Canadian. Please convert to US dollars before entering your desired donation amount.

Thank you for supporting the memory of Ashley Blair Doyle by helping prevent hereditary cancer!

Ashley Blair Doyle Scholarship Fund

Genetic counselors are key to hereditary disease prevention. Donate here if you are a genetic counselor who supports cascade family outreach.

Individuals who donate $150 or more will be listed on the genetic counselor supporters page on the ConnectMyVariant website.


Genetic Counselors Support Cascade Outreach

Finding out that many of the women in our family had an 85% lifetime risk for breast cancer was a terrible bomb blowing up our lives--but we are so grateful we found out. Because we knew, the lives of my daughter, her two children, and two of her cousins were saved. Because we knew about their increased risk for pancreatic cancer, the lives of my husband, two cousins, and our son were spared. That's just for starters, because our familial risk for cancer will always be with us, and only by making sure everyone related to us knows about their risk can we give them the opportunity to make informed, proactive decisions about monitoring, prophylactic surgeries, and targeted treatments. ConnectMyVariant helped us find and talk with family members about our BRCA1 variant, a work that is ongoing. Through genealogy work and connections with others with the same genetic variant, ConnectMyVariant is bringing more and more people together to end hereditary disease and save lives.