VANCOUVER, OCTOBER 18. The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) opened its 66th annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada today with an inspiring address by outgoing president Hal Dietz,M.D., and award presentations to two distinguished geneticists. There was also an all-day education session for Vancouver-area high school students that featured an evocative presentation by former high-fashion photographer Rick Guidotti. Guidotti, who has worked with world-class models such as Cindy Crawford, has now turned his talents to bringing humanity and life to images of children and young adults who have genetic diseases. Rick is the founder of “Positive Exposure” (http://positiveexposure.org/) and he now travels the world bringing his vibrant personality and artistic talents to the goal of helping those with genetic diseases. Rick is currently in the final stages of work on a film (“On Beauty!”) that has already some preliminary awards and can be viewed free in streaming video at the following link for the rest of this week (http://eepurl.com/cj-cED). The film is being produced by the company (Kartemquin Film) that did the movie “Hoop Dreams.” Rick's film "On Beauty!" was produced and directed by Emmy-nominated Joanna Rudnick. Ms. Rudnick received the nomination for her personal and inspiring film "In the Family" about living with the BRCA gene. BioQuick would strongly encourage everyone to view "On Beauty!" and learn more about the exciting and kind work that Rick is doing. After Dr. Dietz’s opening address, the Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award was presented to Stanley Gartner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine (Medical Genetics) and Genome Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.Login Or Register To Read Full Story