The four new medical conditions newborns can now be tested for by our New England Newborn Screening Program are highlighted in a story in the first edition of UMass Medical School’s new magazine, @umassmed.
The voluntary newborn screening panel now includes tests for X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and two lysosomal storage diseases, Pompe Disease and Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I (MPS I).
Read the article in @umassmed to learn more about the additional screens and the program’s new location from Jamaica Plain to a state-of-the-art lab on the Worcester campus.
The New England Newborn Screening Program, part of UMass Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine division, operates the Massachusetts newborn screening program on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). DPH defines the conditions to be screened for on both the mandated and voluntary panels.
In addition to Massachusetts, the program provides screening for babies born in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. All testing is performed on the same specimen, usually collected in the hospital when the baby is between 24-48 hours of age.