Welcome to ISNS

Welcome to the website of the International Society for Neonatal Screening (ISNS).
This society is aiming to advance screening for neonatal and infant sicknesses and disorders, worldwide. Please read its vision and mission, respectively.
ISNS has around 500 members in more than 70 different countries. Most members have a professional (para)medical background but a few are involved in parents or patients advocacy groups.
For more information about ISNS visit the ISNS-Info section (see here).
ISNS welcomes new members who have demonstrated an active interest in neonatal screening.

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News for Members

If you paid your membership dues and still do not receive the ISNS Newsletter please notify the ISNS Office (E: office-manager@isns-neoscreening.org).

If you change your email address please notify the ISNS Office (E: office-manager@isns-neoscreening.org).

 

 

2024 Membership renewal
It's time to consider the status of your ISNS membership.
1.How do you know if you need to renew? Quite easy! Please log in with your username (=email address) and password.
a.If you see the payment page you can opt to pay for 2024, or 2024+2025, or 2024+2025+2026.
Paying for multiple years entitles you to a discount of some 8-9% and in addition, it is easier for the ISNS Office.
Please note that we do not send a payment confirmation or receipt of money UNLESS you request it by sending an email to office-manager@isns-neoscreening.org
b. If you do NOT see the payment page it means that you already paid for 2024 (and perhaps also for later years). In that case you do not have to take any action.
2.Is your account still up to date?
Please log in and check the profile by clicking on the icon at the far right hand side of the top line. An essential item is a correct email address. If you find that the ISNS database has an error, please correct it and send an email to office-manager@isns-neoscreening.org as well.
3.Any question, remark, suggestion? Send an email to office-manager@isns-neoscreening.org

Hot topics for members

UAE: Genetic testing mandatory for citizens getting married in Abu Dhabi from October 1 Citizens getting married in Abu Dhabi will have to undergo mandatory genetic testing as part of the premarital screening programme from October 1, the emirate's Department of Health said on Wednesday.
(source: https://lnkd.in/grMSwbmM )
Oct 09, 2024

 

IPIC2025. First announcement. Please see www.ipic2025.com

The WHO/World Health Assembly adopts resolution
A77/A/CONF./5 "Accelerate progress towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal targets 3.1 and 3.2"
June 21, 2024

2023 ISNS Awards recipients
The recipient of the 2023 ISNS/Revvity Guthrie Award is Dr Ralph Fingerhut, Weiden, Germany.
The recipient of the 2023 ISNS/Bio-Rad Dussault Medal is Dr Kristin Kernohan, Ottawa (ON), Canada.
ISNS congratulates them!
Biosketches of these colleagues will be published shortly.

Updated worldwide overview on NBS - Sept 2023
Please see here some slides based on info collected from various sources and (industrial) partners.

PKU blog by Kevin Alexander
About Kevin Alexander (in his own words)

I'm an adult living with PKU. I'm also a professional videographer, and since 2012 I've been traveling the world as a PKU and newborn screening advocate. I'm a volunteer for the National PKU Alliance, Vice President of the Louisiana Metabolic Disorders Coaltion, and a member of the International Society of Neonatal Screening.
Please follow this link: https://pkujournal.com/

Kevin has released a preview episode, a look at what lies ahead on this podcast. Below are links to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Two historic, very interesting, videos on PKU now available!
The Laboratory of Newborn Screening of Catalonia from Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (Spain), via Dr Ana Argudo-Ramírez,  kindly made available to ISNS two historic videos.
The first one shows the original bacterial inhibition assay method for PKU, galactosemia etc. using the Phillips Punch Index Machine. This video was acquired and brought to Barcelona in 1968 by Prof. Juan Sabaté Tobella who was doing a training in the laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he learned the Guthrie method with Dr. Vivian Shi, director of the laboratory.

The second one concerns a TV show about PKU presented by Dr. Leonard Taitz, possibly made in the '80s.

If the videos will not open in your usual webbrowser please try another one.

Please see
https://aecom.com.es/fenilalanina-medir-metodo-dr-guthrie/
and
https://aecom.com.es/pku-progrrama-tv/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot topics for members

  50 years of NBS in the Netherlands
After a pilot phase of five years, nationwide NBS in the Netherlands started in September 1974, i.e. somewhat later than in neighbouring countries. The first condition, of course, was phenylketonuria, followed in 1981 by congenital hypothyroidism. Nowadays the screening panel consists of 27 conditions. Participation is voluntary but still around 99 %.

To celebrate this milestone a half-day symposium was held in Ede. It consisted of a. presentations on the current logistics of the programme as well as views on future developments concerning the potentials of genomic screening; b. an interview with one of the first ladies picked up by the programme in 1975, who got  three children with PKU, her husband having been shown to be a carrier; c. an overview of the status of NBS internationally (speaker ISNS President Jim Bonham); and d. a quiz for all 200 participants with questions on NBS in theory and practice. (photo: Jim Bonham, Gerard Loeber and Peter Schielen)
Oct 25, 2024

Worldwide overview of NBS
Dr.Brad Therrell and a number of co-authors compiled the current situation concerning NBS worldwide.
A lengthy publication in the International Journal of Neonatal Screening (IJNS) but a MUST-READ for ISNS members !!
Please follow this link
June 29, 2024

International Journal of Neonatal Screening (IJNS)
IJNS is the official journal of the International Society for Neonatal Screening (ISNS). IJNS is also the official journal of the German Society for Neonatal Screening (DGNS), the Japanese Society for Neonatal Screening (JSNS), the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)–Newborn Screening & Genetics Program and the UK Newborn Screening Laboratory Network (UKNSLN).
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/IJNS/about

In addition:
Open Access: free for readers, with article processing charges (APC)
paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, ESCI (Web of Science), PubMed,
PMC, Embase, and other databases.
Impact factor 4.0
CiteScore: 6.7
Journal Rank: JCR - Q1 (12/186, Pediatrics) / CiteScore - Q1 (32/330, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health)
Case reports: this journal publishes a section with well prepared case
reports.
Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 28.8 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 6.5 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2024).

Please consider IJNS for your next manuscript submission!!! ISNS members receive a 20% discount of the publication cost by indicating the ISNS membership in the cover letter.

Worldwide members

The location of members worldwide as of Jan. 1, 2024, is shown in the picture on the right. Countries/states with at least one member are shown in blue, others in grey.

How do I become a member?

Please read this  and subsequently click on the button Member application.

Why should I join as a member?

As a member you are entitled to see the privileged pages containing specific news items, a monthly neonatal screening literature service and a discount to ISNS-related conferences. Under certain conditions you may apply for travel grants to such conferences. Having access to the on line membership directory you have easier access to other members sharing specific interests.

ISNS Journal

The ISNS supervises a journal, the International Journal of Neonatal Screening, published by MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
For information, please follow this link.
Members are stimulated to use this journal for their publications.