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.

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.