In 2010 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adopted a mandatory sickle cell trait (SCT) screening policy for student-athletes in its Division I (DI) colleges and universities. Currently, schools in all three divisions of the NCAA are implementing the policy. To date, very little published research is available on SCT in student-athletes or on the actual implementation of the NCAA screening policy. Many important questions remain regarding this controversial mandated genetic screening program.

PROJECT NARRATIVE The sickle cell trait (SCT) screening program of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is regarded as one of the largest mandated genetic screening programs in the United States (US). Estimates suggest that over 2,000 NCAA Division I student-athletes with SCT will be identified under the screening policy and that, without intervention, about seven NCAA Division I student-athletes would die suddenly from a complication of SCT over a 10-year period.

Public Health Relevance Section Policies in the U.S. increasingly rely upon genomic information as a biometric to inform visa application processes, by verifying biological relationship claims or statehood claims, and broad DNA collection from non-criminals may help with missing persons, disaster victim, and terrorism investigations. The societal implications of these genomic applications are broad, with benefits and risks to the individuals undergoing testing, the communities in which they live, and the nation at large.