HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson recently announced more than $21 million to improve newborn screening systems, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality and low birth weight, coordinate women’s health services, and support research in pediatric and maternal preventive care.
 
Seven Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaboratives, a coordinating center at the American College of Medical Genetics in Bethesda , Md. , and the University of Pennsylvania received grants worth $12.6 million to help state and local health agencies provide screening services and follow-up care for newborns that have or may develop heritable disorders and to offer education and genetic counseling to their parents.  Heritable disorders are passed from parents to children and are treatable if detected early.  
 
“New technology detects an increasing number of genetic and metabolic disorders that can be treated effectively with early intervention,” said Secretary Thompson.  “These funds will also help families of newborns access follow-up and subspecialty care, and help educate health professionals and families about advances in genetic medicine.”
 
The newly funded projects are intended to improve states’ screening capacity and equalize distribution of genetic resources within regions by fostering collaborative efforts.  The grant to the University of Pennsylvania will fund a separate project to assess methods of predicting healthy newborns’ risk of developing hyperbilirubinemia during their first two weeks of life.  Hyperbilirubinemia is a condition marked by an excess of bilirubin in the blood, which can cause jaundice and severely threaten a baby’s health.  A table of Heritable Disorders grantees appears at the bottom of this release.
 
In a separate genetics-related program, four organizations won awards totaling $1.2 million to educate consumers and health professionals about advances in genetic technology and assess newborn screening programs nationwide.  Under the Genetics Services Projects program, the Institute for Cultural Partnerships of Harrisburg, Pa., the National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio , and the Task Force for Child Survival and Development in Atlanta each were awarded $200,000.  The Washington State Department of Health in Kent received two grants totaling $600,000.
 
Eight grants totaling $4.7 million seek to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant health.  One-year grants under the Healthy Start Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health demonstration grant program were awarded to communities with high rates of infant death in seven states and the District of Columbia .  Begun in 1991 to increase women’s access to prenatal and perinatal services, the Healthy Start program now reaches into 97 communities in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico .  A table of the new Healthy Start grantees appears at the bottom of this release.
 
Eight grants totaling $923,000 were awarded under three programs to coordinate collaborative efforts in providing women’s health services. Three awards of $100,000 each under the Integrated Comprehensive Women’s Health Services in State Maternal and Child Health program were made to the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee , the Sandoval County Community Health Alliance in Bernalillo , N.M. , and the Oregon Department of Human Services in Portland .   Two awards of $100,000 under the Women’s Behavioral Health Systems Building : Innovative Ideas for Local and State Collaboration program went to the Maine Department of Human Services in Augusta and the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa ( Okla. ).   And three awards from the Innovative Approaches to Promoting a Healthy Weight in Women program will help reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women with limited access to preventive health services.  Projects at the Holyoke Health Center in Holyoke , Mass. , the Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services in Cleveland , and Texas State University at San Marcos will receive $141,000 each.
 
Eight grants under the Maternal and Child Health Research program will fund projects totaling more than $1.9 million to examine topics that include the possible link between a mother’s smoking and infant colic and the impact of Vitamin D deficiency in urban mothers and their newborns.   MCH Research award recipients include:

• Tuba City ( Ariz. ) Regional Health Care Corp., $296,973;
• Regents of the University of California , San Francisco , $142,044;
• Johns Hopkins University , Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore , Md. ,$91,000;
• Boston ( Mass. ) Medical Center Corp., $213,455;
• University of Rochester (N.Y.), $220,861;
• Miriam Hospital , Providence , R.I. , $317,481; and
• University of Washington , Seattle, grants of $361,053 and $289,499.

All of the grants in this release were awarded by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration through its Maternal and Child Health Bureau (http://mchb.hrsa.gov/).
 
 

Heritable Disorders Program, FY 2004
Organization	City	State	Amount
Mountain States Genetics Regional Collaborative Center/Mountain States Genetic Foundation	Littleton	Colo.	$1,530,000
Enhanced Genetic Services & Newborn Screening Collaborative at the Southeast Regional Genetics Group	Atlanta	Ga.	1,755,000
Western States Genetic Services Collaborative at the Hawaii Department of Health	Honolulu	Hawaii	1,650,000
New England Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative at the New England Regional Genetics Group, Inc.	Gorham	Maine	1,080,000
Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative Coordinating Center at the American College of Medical Genetics	Bethesda	Md.	1,342,814
The Region 4 Genetics Collaborative:  Michigan Public Health Institute	Okemos	Mich.	1,665,000
Mid-Atlantic Genetic and Newborn Screening Collaborative at   Health Research, Inc./New York State Department of Health	Rensselaer	N.Y.	1,635,000
Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center	Oklahoma City	Okla.	1,185,000
Safe Outcome for Neonatal Hyperbilirubi-nemia: Icterus Study at the U. of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Pa.	700,000
TOTAL:			$12,592,814

 
 

FY 2004 Healthy Start Program Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health
Organization	City	State	Amount
Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Health	Washington	D.C.	$624,999
The Family Tree Information, Education, Counseling Center Inc.	Lafayette	La.	448,813
Great Brook Valley Health Center	Worcester	Mass.	625,000
Spectrum Health	Grand Rapids	Mich.	624,391
N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services	Raleigh	N.C.	610,263
Luna County	Deming	N.M.	593,750
Philadelphia Public Health Department	Philadelphia	Pa.	613,724
Valley Primary Care Network	Brownsville	Texas	603,688
TOTAL:			$ 4,744,628