NEW YORK – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Friday that it has launched a Newborn Screening by Whole Genome Sequencing (NBSxWGS) Collaboratory, along with a new funding opportunity, to "enhance early diagnosis of treatable genetic conditions in newborns."
A collaborative effort between state public health laboratories, parents and newborn participants, and investigators, the goal of the NBSxWGS Collaboratory is to "assess the feasibility of a collaborative, multi-state model for newborn screening that would use whole-genome sequencing as a first-tier screening assay for analysis on a select group of genetic conditions that are actionable in the first year of life," NIH said in a statement.
The project is part of NIH's Common Fund Venture Program, a new effort within the NIH Common Fund to support "novel, short-term, bold initiatives," NIH said. The Common Fund may allocate up to $4.8 million total costs per year for up to three years for one NBSxWGS award. The grant application is due May 14 with letters of intent due April 4.
According to NIH, the prime award of the initiative includes four functions: project administration and coordination; participant recruitment, consenting, and return of results; whole-genome sequencing and analysis; and ethical, legal, and social Implications and community advisory board.
The NBSxWGS Collaboratory joins a slew of pilot newborn genome sequencing projects taking off in the US and around the world.
Different from these projects, the NBSxWGS Collaboratory "specifically intends to assess the feasibility of incorporating genomic sequencing data from a WGS platform into US newborn screening programs as a collaborative enterprise involving multiple state public health laboratories," NIH said.