ACMG’s NICHD contract extended for Newborn Screening Translational Research Network

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has been awarded a five-year extension of its NICHD contract for The Newborn Screening Translational Research Network (NBSTRN). The NBSTRN will continue its work as a key component of the Hunter Kelly Newborn Screening Research Program with the goal of supporting ground-breaking research in newborn screening.

The contract, worth $13 million, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health will cover work to be completed through September 2023. The NBSTRN began in 2008 as an effort to engage a variety of stakeholders across the NBS system; and over the past ten years has matured into a dynamic and committed network of researchers, public health professionals and clinicians.

"We are thrilled to be able to continue to build upon our decade of work and we believe that the resources we have built are essential to the Newborn Screening community. We look forward to growing the network and enhancing the tools and resources in the next 5 years," said Michael S. Watson, PhD, FACMG, Project Director of the NBSTRN.

NBSTRN supports a number of research projects throughout the United States working to:

• discover and validate novel technologies to screen and diagnose disease;
• understand the best approach to the clinical care of newborns including execution of clinical trials and application of cutting edge treatments and management strategies;
• coordinate multistate pilot studies of conditions considered candidates for addition to newborn screening;
• pilot new technologies and treatments;
• collect, analyze and disseminate longitudinal health and genomic data