Newborn Screening Program Chooses Web Designer

SILVER SPRING, MD--(Marketwire - Mar 7, 2013) - The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) is pleased to announce its selection of 5AM Solutions, Inc. to develop and maintain the Newborn Screening Technical assistance and Evaluation Program (NewSTEPs) interactive website and data repository for newborn screening. By virtue of this partnership, States will have access to a robust and dynamic database that will allow them to improve the efficiency and enhance the quality of services they provide to newborns. 

NewSTEPs, a program of APHL, is designed to help facilitate newborn screening initiatives and improve programmatic outcomes and outcomes for newborns, thus improving the overall quality of the newborn screening system. APHL is collaborating with the faculty from the Colorado School of Public Health who provide expertise in epidemiology and program evaluation. NewSTEPs is funded through a five-year cooperative agreement by the Genetics Services Branch of the U.S. Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 

"We are looking forward to working collaboratively with 5AM Solutions to build a resource that will give state newborn screening programs, partner organizations and stakeholders access to a robust and dynamic database and website," said Jelili Ojodu, MPH, director of NewSTEPs and APHL's director of newborn screening and genetics. He continued, "NewSTEPs is optimistic about improving the efficiency of services provided to newborns. We are very excited!"

Founded in 2003, 5AM uses technology to meet the unique data, workflow and analysis needs within and across the converging fields of life sciences and healthcare. 5AM uses its experience solving problems for customers who want to harness the power of the internet, mobility and analytics to drive decision support, foster collaborations and have technology work for them. 5AM creates simple solutions for even the most complex problems -- through software engineering, consulting and biomedical data analysis.

"We are thrilled to be working with APHL and the NewSTEPs team in developing an expansive data repository and interactive website to improve outcomes for newborns, building off and expanding on the work we've done with the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network and the Virtual Repository of Dried Blood Spots. We could not have thought of a better way to celebrate 50 years of newborn screening," said Erica Marrari, 5AM biospecimens practice owner.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories is a national nonprofit located in Silver Spring, MD, that is dedicated to working with members to strengthen governmental laboratories with a public health mandate. By promoting effective programs and public policy, APHL strives to provide public health laboratories with the resources and infrastructure needed to protect the health of US residents and to prevent and control disease globally.

This project was 100% federally funded from the Genetics Services Branch of the U.S. Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), in the amount of $872,000.