The Genetic Alliance has created a consumer task force on newborn screening to engage relevant stakeholders with an interest in newborn screening policies, activities, and current events. Members of the Task Force will be trained on issues relevant to newborn screening and will create projects targeting groups who typically are under-informed about the importance of newborn screening. For more information about the task force, go to: http://www.babysfirsttest.org/consumer-task-force.

The Association for Public Health Laboratories and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute present a webinar entitled “New Guidelines for Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screening Laboratory Tests” on Thursday, January 26th from 1:00-2:00pm EST.

Presenters Marie C. Earley, PhD and John D. Thompson, PhD, MPH, MPA will discuss guidelines specific to the biochemical and molecular laboratory tests using the dried blood spot matrix, including quality control and quality assurance; important considerations when establishing a mutation panel; and the strengths and limitations of the various approaches for primary and second-tier testing.

To register, go to: www.aphl.org/clsi. The registration fee is $195.

The National Coordinating Center (NCC) has just published the December issue of their newsletter, the NCC Collaborator. This issue features successes of the different regional collaboratives during the current funding cycle. To view the newsletter, go to: http://www.acmg.net/current.pdf.

This national webinar, sponsored by the Association for Maternal Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and The Catalyst Center, will address how state Title V maternal and child (MCH) programs, state Medicaid agencies and other key partners (e.g., provider groups, families) are approaching inclusion of pediatric populations in their state plan amendments for Section 2703 of the Affordable Care Act. To register for the webinar, go to: https://cc.callinfo.com/cc/s/showReg?udc=1klzpva6iwbl3 .

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was recently awarded the Genetics in Primary Care Institute (GPCI) cooperative agreement-a 3 year award from the Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau. As an important partner of the AAP and GPCI, we would like to invite you to participate in an introductory webinar. Please join GPCI co-medical directors, Drs Robert Saul and Beth Tarini, as they provide an overview of the goals and activities of GPCI and discuss collaboration with partners.

Title:Genetics in Primary Care Institute: Overview
Date:Monday, November 14, 2011
Time:11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/505224154

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Please contact Holly Griffin at hgriffin@aap.org with any questions

The National Network of Telehealth Resource Centers presents a webinar entitled “Enabling State Licensure Through Key Portability Initiatives” on Thursday, November 17th at 2:00pm EST.

To join the meeting, go to: https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/sbtelehealth/

The Family to Family Health Information Centers are featured in the October edition of the Association of Maternal Child Health Programs (AMCHP) newsletter. To read the article, go to: http://www.amchp.org/AboutAMCHP/Newsletters/Pulse/October2011/Pages/default.aspx

On September 21, 2011, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius adopted the recommendation from the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (SACHDNC) to add screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel. For more information, go to: www.hrsa.gov/advisorycommittees/mchbadvisory/heritabledisorders/

The National Network of Telehealth Resource Centers presents a webinar entitled “Your Telehealth Program: Are You Following Federal and State Laws and Regulations?” on October 20th at 2:00pm EDT.

To join the meeting, go to: https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/sbtelehealth/ You can test your connection at https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

The Association for Maternal Child Health Programs, with support from The Commonwealth Fund, is hosting a webinar entitled Optimizing Health Care Reform to Integrate Service Delivery Systems for Women, Children, and Their Families. The webinar is being held on October 12th at 12:30pm EST.

The webinar will highlight the efforts of state Title V MCH programs and their partners to integrate health care service delivery systems focused on improving the health of women, children and their families. To register for the webinar, go to: https://cc.callinfo.com/cc/schedule/display.do?udc=18t1xla99k91a