Webinar: Newborn Screening for Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Dr. Wendy Chung

Webinar: Newborn Screening for Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Dr. Wendy Chung 

Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST

Description: In this webinar, Dr. Wendy Chung covers a range of topics related to newborn screening (NBS) for neurodevelopmental disorders. If you have any questions please send them to coordinator[at]simonssearchlight.org. 

Background: Newborn screening (NBS) provides early pre-symptomatic diagnosis, medical assessment, and intervention, which may prevent or decrease the burden of medical conditions and disabilities. However, the lack of curative treatments has made it nearly impossible to consider Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) in the current NBS process. There is a critical need for large-scale pilot studies to find out if and how NDDs can be effectively screened at birth, if parents desire that information, and what effect early diagnosis may have. We hope that you join us to learn more about this topic.

Keep reading: Dr. Chung recently co-authored an article in the American Journal of Medical Genetics entitled “Newborn screening for neurodevelopmental diseases: Are we there yet?” Read this article online.

Watch the recording below:

You can view the presentation slides here.

About Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D.:

Wendy Chung is the director of clinical research at SFARI (Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative) and the principal investigator of Simons Searchlight and SPARK. She joined the foundation in 2012, after serving on the SFARI’s Scientific Advisory Board. Her role includes managing the research program in individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, evaluating opportunities to develop new treatments including medications such as arbaclofen, and developing novel outcome measures to evaluate the efficacy of these treatments. She is involved in identifying novel genes for autism and characterizing the clinical features associated with these novel genes.  Chung delivered a TED Talk, “What We Know About Autism.”

Chung earned her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and economics from Cornell University, her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College and her Ph.D. from Rockefeller University in human genetics. She completed her residency in pediatrics and fellowships in medical and molecular genetics at Columbia University. Chung is also the Kennedy Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Columbia University, where she directs the clinical genetics program and performs human genetics research.