The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH)will host a virtual symposium on Thursday, September 17, 2020 to highlight state, Tribal, territorial and community-based efforts to address COVID-19 among racial and ethnic minority populations. The Advancing the Response to COVID-19: Sharing Promising Programs and Practices for Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities virtual symposium aims to support and disseminate promising practices, programs and strategies for combating COVID-19, especially in communities of color.

The next meeting for the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children will be held via webcast on Thursday, August 6, 2020, from 1:00 PM – 4:05 PM Eastern Time (ET) and Friday, August 7, 2020, from 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM ET. Meeting times are subject to change.

Registration: This meeting will be open to the public but advance registration is required. Please register online <https://www.cvent.com/d/jnq529> by 12:00 p.m. ET on August 5, 2020. For technical problems gaining access to the registration website, please email Amy Lang.

The WSRGN telehealth training is going totally virtual! Training dates will begin in the Fall.  Please contact Austin Bland (austin@hawaiigenetics.org) for more information.

Using our experience in training providers to use telehealth and telegenetics, we have created short best practices and “how-to” videos for patients and providers.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first test to aid in newborn screening for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle loss. To read more, click here. 

The APHL NBS Health Information Technology (HIT) Workgroup identified the need for NBS programs to be able to successfully recruit qualified public health informatics candidates. The workgroup developed four editable, examples of position descriptions within this toolkit. Visit NewSTEPs.org for more HIT-related resources

Newborn Screening Symposium (NBS2020) will be held in Des Moines, IA from October 18–22, 2020. They are looking for abstract, oral presentations and posters/roundtables submissions, which may be completed online via the abstract submission site. Full details on this process are contained in the Call for Abstracts. The deadline for abstract submission is February 28, 2020. 

The Immune Deficiency Foundation launched their new website, SCID Compass, to support parents of babies with severe combined immunodeficiency. SCID is newborn screening condition in which the body is not able to fight off serious and life-threatening infections. The website provides detailed information about SCID, including an in-depth explanation of SCID, treatment options, and advice on how to care for a child with SCID. It also shares family stories and information on support services. 

NCC is excited to announce that the new clinical services directory is now live! The directory can be found at clinics.acmg.net.  You should check to make sure your listing is accurate.

DNA Day Essay Contest for Teachers and Students

For high school teachers and students: Check out the 2020 American Society of Human Genetics’ (ASHG) Annual Essay Contest for Grades 9-12. Easy to work into your biology class for extra credit, or to challenge students. Winning students receive cash awards, and their teachers win genetics materials grants. The submission site opens in early January 2020.

Contest Website