Work at Center Outlined at Horse Show Kickoff

              6-A Sunday, Feb. 6, 1972 THE SHREVEPORT TIMES
Participants In The Shreveport Charity Horse Show
Association's kickoff Saturday for its seventh annual
production to benefit the LSU Medical School Birth
Defects Center (left and right) Dr. Richard Speairs,
associate professor and chairman of the biological
sciences department at LSU-S, and Dr. Richard
Juberg, director of the Birth Defects Center, look over
information about the center. (Times Photo by John
Moseley)
Work at Center Outlined
At Horse Show Kickoff
By Elaine Tucker
Of The Times Staff
Functions of the Louisiana
State University Medical School
Birth Defects Center, the per-manent
charity of the Shreve-port
Charity Horse Show Asso-ciation,
were outlined Saturday
at the association's kickoff for
its seventh annual Charity
Horse Show.
Dr. Richard Juberg, director
of the Birth Defects Center,
explained the work done by the
center to about 75 persons who
attended the session at the R. S.
Barnwell Memorial Garden and
Art Center. • .
The 1972 horse show will be
held May 10-13 at the Hirsch.
Memorial Coliseum with pro-ceeds
going to the Birth Defects
Center.
Also participating in Satur-day's
kickoff program were Dr.
Peyton Kelley, executive vice
president of the horse show and
who is in charge of ticket sales;
V. C. Shannon, newly elected
District 4 state representative;
R. S. Barnwell, chairman of the
Shreveport Charity Horse Show
Association; and Dr. Richard
Speairs, LSUS associate profes-
; sor and chairman of the depart-ment
of biological sciences.
. In explaining the work of the
Birth Defects Center, Dr. Jub-erg
said the work could be
I divided into four phases: diag-nostic,
investigative, prognostic
and educational.
The center serves as a con-sultant
for birth defects, espe-cially
those that are determined
by genetics, he said. After work
at the center is completed for
each patient, a summary of all
findings is written up by tne
center and sent to the physician
to whom the patient is referred,
he said.
At the center, finger, palm
and sole prints of a patient are
made for a n a 1 y s i s. Chromo-somes
are also analyzed, Dr.
Juberg noted.
Referrals to the center are
made from physicians, social or
public health workers and some
individuals contact the center
initially, he said.
One of the first steps taken
when a patient comes to the
center is to complete a family
history — or pedigree — of the
person with the defect, next a
physical examination is made
and then laboratory procedures
are completed, Dr. Juberg ex-plained.
Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31,
1971, the center identified 40
families for diagnosis, 25 for
genetic counselling and three
families for investigation, he
said.
The center performs 34 labo-ratory
procedures.