Supporting State Newborn Screening Laboratories

At a glance

CDC enhances nation-wide capacity and capability to conduct newborn screening by providing resources and technical assistance to state public health laboratories.

Decorative: Hands holding baby feet

Overview

CDC activities to support state newborn screening laboratories include the following:

  • Facilitating communication across newborn screening programs
  • Assisting in designing, developing, and evaluating laboratory methods and training for newborn screening programs
  • Improving the quality of existing and emerging newborn screening laboratory methods
  • Providing technical expertise and technology transfer for new methods
  • Offering quality assurance materials through the Newborn Screening Quality Assurance Program
  • Supporting harmonization of newborn screening laboratory data across laboratories using CDC quality control reference materials
  • Aiding in the development of training materials on laboratory methods, evaluations, risk communication, and other topics for state public health newborn screening programs

Funded state newborn screening programs

CDC provides funding and expertise to state public health laboratories who conduct newborn screening. Funded programs receive focused consultation, testing materials, training, and technical assistance.

Current and previously funded recipients are represented on the below map. These current and previous funded CDC projects include:

Centers of Excellence to Enhance Disease Detection in Newborns

  • Award Period: 2024 – 2028; CDC-RFA-EH24-0044

Overview

CDC has awarded a new Cooperative for a public health laboratory to establish a newborn screening (NBS) Center of Excellence that will 1) develop infrastructure to implement existing, advanced technologies to expand NBS system capacity, 2) use advanced technologies as second and third tier testing platforms to optimize screening performance, and 3) incorporate bio-informatics to analyze complex biochemical and molecular data. Over the four-year project, the recipient will pilot methods to enhance NBS practices in public health laboratories, collaborate and share findings with the NBS community, and partner with CDC subject-matter experts on data harmonization and modernization efforts.

Enhancing Disease Detection in Newborns: Building Capacity in Public Health Laboratories

  • Award Period: 2022 – 2024; RFA-EH-22-2201
  • Award Period: 2020 – 2024; RFA-EH-20-200

Newborn Screening New Condition Implementation: Capacity Building and Quality Improvement through Data Harmonization

  • Award Period: 2018-2020; RFA-EH-18-1804
Print
Content Source:
National Center for Environmental Health; Division of Laboratory Sciences