On November 14, 2025, representatives from the Wadsworth Center’s Newborn Screening Program joined faculty, a clinician, and students at the University at Albany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences (CIHS) for the College’s first interprofessional education (IPE) event. The session, titled “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Newborn Screening,” brought together over 50 students from public health, nursing, and social welfare programs to explore how different professions collaborate to support newborn screening and follow-up care.
The event was designed to help students integrate diverse professional perspectives—an essential competency for Master of Public Health (MPH) students and an increasingly important skill across health disciplines. Most attendees had limited prior exposure to the newborn screening system. The panel provided students with a comprehensive overview of the program’s interconnected components:
- Michele Caggana, ScD, FACMG, former Newborn Screening Program Director, discussed the history and scope of newborn screening in New York State.
- Jing Xiao, PhD, FACMG, of the Newborn Screening Program, described the scientific and regulatory process used to determine which conditions are added to the universal screening panel.
- Stephanie Gagnon, MS, CGC, of the Newborn Screening Program, outlined the follow-up process in New York State and current ethical issues and future directions in newborn screening.
- Cheryl Clow, RN, from Albany Medical Center, shared a specialty care center’s perspective on diagnosis, clinical evaluation, and management for screen-positive babies.
Following the panel, students worked in small, facilitated groups to apply what they learned to real-world case studies. Discussions emphasized communication challenges across sectors, approaches to interdisciplinary coordination, ethical considerations, and the variety of logistical and technical barriers that can arise throughout the newborn screening and follow-up process.
This inaugural session provided a valuable opportunity for future public health and healthcare professionals to deepen their understanding of the state’s newborn screening system and the collaborative partnerships essential to protecting the health of New York’s infants and families.