Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210)567-2579
E-Mail: sansom@uthscsa.edu

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The public is invited to comment on a new national report, released March 8 in the Federal Register, that recommends the standardization of newborn screening tests throughout the country. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) commissioned the report from the American College of Medical Genetics.

“This is a report about making the newborn screening system in the United States more uniform,” said Brad Therrell, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics, which has a cooperative agreement with HRSA to maintain the National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center. The report and additional information are available at the resource center’s Web page: genes-r-us.uthscsa.edu.

“The report recommends decision-making criteria for testing panels along with a recommended panel of tests in an effort to aid state programs in providing more uniform testing,” Dr. Therrell said. “New technology enables multiple tests to be performed at the same time, which improves the efficiency of the screening process.”

Texas requires eight of the 29 recommended tests, he noted. Tests in the recommended expanded panel include the familiar (hearing loss) to the not so familiar (glutaric academia type I).

The report notes that newborn screening is not just a laboratory test but “a coordinated and comprehensive system consisting of education, screening, follow-up, diagnosis, treatment and management, and program evaluation.”

Because of the HRSA contract, the Health Science Center is a national leader in helping the country to compile information needed to make decisions about newborn screening. Dr. Therrell spent 28 years with the Texas Department of State Health Services before joining the Health Science Center in 1999 to direct the National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center. His collaborator is Celia I. Kaye, M.D., Ph.D., vice dean of the School of Medicine and former chairman of pediatrics. She is an international expert in the field of genetics. Both faculty members serve on national panels related to newborn screening.

The report was forwarded to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt this week. Two bills for expanding the newborn screening program in Texas are before the state Legislature in the current session, Dr. Therrell said.

The public is invited to submit written feedback on the report and its recommendations within 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Mail comments to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building, 18A-19, Rockville, MD 20857. The fax number is (301) 443-8604. Comments also can be sent by e-mail to screening@hrsa.hhs.gov.