Coming soon to your email box is the follow-up to last years “WSRGN – Telegenetics and the COVID-19 Pandemic” survey. Please be on the lookout for a link to the survey, as your response will help us better understand the pandemic’s effect on telegenetics.

The WSRGN will be holding our second annual Virtual Genetic Counselor Career fair for two days, September 28th and 30th, to allow more students to visit. Genetic counseling is a unique and rewarding healthcare profession, and this virtual fair will help those interested to learn all about it!

Join the fair to learn about this exciting profession, hear from professional societies, and connect with over 50 graduate degree genetic counseling programs across North America. Graduate programs and professional societies will have virtual “rooms” for students to visit and learn more about degree requirements, program information, and all other information about becoming a genetic counselor!  We will also have a Minority Genetic Professionals Network for minority students that visit the Career Fair.  Link to registration: bit.ly/gcfair2021

Please help us disseminate information about the Career Fair

We have created a Social Media Toolkit for you to easily share info about the career fair. The toolkit includes example email blasts, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts, accompanying graphics/flyers of appropriate size for each, and versions of each graphic/post focused on recruitment within diverse populations (these are labelled as ‘MGPN Versions’). Click here for the full toolkit.

HRSA shared that in October 2020 they initiated a launch of the legislatively mandated newborn screening information clearinghouse, the Newborn Screening Information Center (NBSIC). The NBSIC provides up-to-date information, materials, and resources about NBS in the United States. These resources help increase awareness, knowledge, and understanding of NBS and genetic conditions. Updates to the site occur quarterly, with NICHQ reaching out directly to a subset of states and territories via email and then a follow-up phone call. HRSA plans on doing a public launch in 2022 once all states and territories have had an opportunity to confirm their information.

If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to via email: newbornscreeninginfo@hrsa.gov

The next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC or Committee) will be held via webcast on Thursday, August 12, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) and Friday, August 13, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET. Meeting time is subject to change.

• Registration: This meeting will be open to the public but advance registration is required. Please register onlineby 12:00 p.m. ET on August 11, 2021. For technical support accessing the registration website, please email achdncmeetings@lrginc.com.

The WSRGN will be holding our second annual Virtual Career fair for two days this time, September 28th and 30th, to allow more students to visit. Genetic counseling is a unique and rewarding healthcare profession, and this virtual fair will help those interested to learn all about it! Join the fair to learn about this exciting profession, hear from professional societies, and connect with graduate degree genetic counseling programs across North America. Graduate programs and professional societies will have virtual “rooms” for students to visit and learn more about degree requirements, program information, and all other information about becoming a genetic counselor! Please let us know of any student channels to add to our Career Fair information dissemination list.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has listed a new Health Program Manager I (HPM I) position to serve as the Chief of the NBS Follow-up Unit at the Genetic Disease Screening Program (GDSP). This position is located at the Richmond Campus in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay area. CDPH is seeking qualified candidates to contribute to the Department’s important mission to advance the health and well-being of California’s diverse people and communities.

• More information is included in the job positing and duty statement at:
• https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/FileDownload.aspx?aid=13706378&name=245838DutyStatement.pdf and
• https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=245838

The NCC Genetics and Genomics Education Workgroup continues to share educational resources created among the regions. Three small breakout working groups have been convened from this group to work on 1) CME Processes for educational offerings, 2) Healthcare interpreter trainings, and 3) Public Health Genetics Week, which will be held this year on May 24 – May 28, 2021.  In addition to the small groups, the workgroup will be holding a series of monthly discussions during the calls about social determinants of health, and how the RGNs should consider them when developing educational resources and doing outreach to communities. If you are interested in participating in any of these small groups or know someone who has expertise in social determinants of health and developing educational materials/outreach, please contact lila@hawaiigenetics.org.

• HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) announced the winner of the Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Challenge. The Caremap app was developed and tested by a multidisciplinary team from National Family Voices, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Duke Health. The team will receive a $130,000 cash prize.

There is no better time than now for racially and ethnically diverse students and professionals to join the MGPN. The MGPN is hosting several events in the coming months to support members in this time of isolation. These include workshops in healing from racial trauma, roll-out of a new-and-improved mentorship program, a virtual career fair, webinars featuring professional speakers, and much more.

Go to minoritygenetics.org to resister and find more information.

In place of APHL’s traditional in-person Newborn Screening Symposium, they are hosting the APHL 2020 Newborn Screening Virtual Symposium, an online event that will address state, national and international newborn screening, genetic testing and policy issues important to public health newborn screening systems. The virtual symposium will feature live and on-demand content, an interactive poster hall, an opportunity to engage with industry partners and representatives, as well as fun and engaging activities! Sessions will run from October 20 – November 12, with up to three sessions per day on Tuesdays and Thursdays (excluding holidays). Sessions will continue to be made available to attendees after the live event concludes. Access to e-poster presentations and the virtual exhibitor hall will be accessible throughout the symposium.