The National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) is pleased to offer a webinar session on:

Genetic Testing and Screening: Implications for Birth Defects Programs

Presenter: Stuart Shapira, MD, PhD
                 Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
                 National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC

Date:   Thursday, June 25, 2009

The sessions are now available through the Members Only Section NBDPN website.

WHO: Members of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network, employees of the birth defects programs, individuals who collect data from medical records, individuals who code birth defects data, and birth defects researchers.

WHERE: All presentations during the meeting will be broadcast live via Net Conferencing. Additionally, there will be a limited question/answer period that participants will be able to join. Handouts will be made available prior to as well as during the sessions.

PRESENTATION SLIDES: 2 slides /page (color, black and white) ; 3 slides / page (color, black and white)

Note: These sessions will be available on demand in the future on the NBDPN website.

Continuing Education Credit for this activity is available. See below for specific details.

SUMMARY:  Birth defects are the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, yet the causes of most birth defects are unknown. We need to know some of the predictors of birth defects and the risks associated with certain conditions in order to stop or eradicate those that are preventable. We need to identify approaches that will increase the likelihood of good control and accelerate the pace of preventing birth defects in our communities. Chromosome analysis is just one of those tests that can help determine the cause of a birth defect. It provides a bird’s eye view of an individual’s genetic information. We will discuss here the types and methods of genetic testing, and the usefulness of this information for a birth defects surveillance program.  

Overall Goals:  The presentation goals are to describe the testing for chromosomal abnormalities being used in a clinical setting to diagnose the cause(s) of birth defects, to understand the nomenclature used to report normal or abnormal test results, and to differentiate the relevant test results to be abstracted from a medical record for a birth defects surveillance program.

Objectives:

1. Describe how chromosome abnormalities were traditionally identified by karyotype analysis.
2. Describe the types of chromosome abnormalities and how they occur.
3. Describe the methods of detecting chromosome abnormalities and understand the nomenclature used to characterize the abnormalities.
4. Describe the differences in testing for chromosome abnormalities and the resolution of the tests in prenatal vs. postnatal situations.
5. Identify the relevant chromosome testing information in the medical record that would be required for clinician review for a birth defects surveillance program.

The presenter will discuss the following topics:

• The Different Types of Genetic Tests and Tools 

  • FISH
• Microarrays 

• How to Interpret the Various Tests
• Differences in Genetic Testing Prenatally and Postnatally
• What and How Much should an Abstractor Collect to Provide Sufficient Information for a Clinician to Review

Continuing Education Information

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited as a provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. This activity provides 1 contact hour.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is a designated event for the CHES to receive 1 Category I contact hours in health education, CDC provider number GA0082.

The CDC has been approved as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), 8405 Greensboro Drive, Suite 800, McLean, VA 22102. The CDC is authorized by IACET to offer 0.1 CEU's for this program.

QUESTIONS: Contact Samantha Parker at sparker4@cdc.gov or Cara Mai at cmai@cdc.gov.