New Funding Opportunity for Genomic Sequencing and NBS Disorders

NICHD and NHGRI Announce New Funding Opportunity for Genomic Sequencing and Newborn Screening Disorders

"The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) invite applications that propose to explore the implications, challenges and opportunities associated with the possible use of genomic sequence information in the newborn period.  Funds will be used to stimulate research in three component projects specifically applicable to newborn screening:

• Acquisition and analysis of genomic datasets that expand considerably the scale of data available for analysis in the newborn period;
• Clinical research that will advance understanding of specific disorders identifiable via newborn screening through promising new DNA-based analysis; and
• Research related to the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of the possible implementation of genomic sequencing of newborns. 

Each research project will be expected to collect a comprehensive genomic dataset from infants with known newborn screening results (positive or negative) and analyze those data in the context of one or more of the following research questions:

• For disorders currently screened for in newborns, how can genomic sequencing replicate or augment known newborn screening results?
• What knowledge about conditions not currently screened for in newborns could genomic sequencing of newborns provide?
• What additional clinical information could be learned from genomic sequencing relevant to the clincial care of newborns?

Applicants must include coordinated research in each of the three Component Projects and address one or more of the research questions listed to be considered responsive to the FOA."

-Announcement from Health and Human Services

 

NIH Press Release on Proposals for Studies on Genomic Sequencing and Newborn Screening Disorders