Newborn screening (NBS) is conducted on virtually every child born in the U.S. primarily through state-based public health programs. Following testing, there is blood leftover on each child that is retained by many state health departments. Residual samples have been used for a variety of purposes including quality assurance for the NBS programs, forensic testing, and for research. Our project will focus on the potential use of residual samples for biomedical research. Many states are experiencing requests from investigators in academia and industry for access to residual NBS samples.

The volume of international research in sub Saharan Africa is increasing largely because of the continents unique high burden of diseases such as malaria, HIV and more recently non-communicable diseases. The continent also faces emerging global health challenges such as Ebola and Zika virus all of which will require testing of new medicines, medical devices or understanding the pathophysiology. Many studies now include complex research such as genetic testing.