April 2022

A Step Backward: HRSA’s Elimination of the ACHDNC Threatens Progress on Newborn Screening

Author: NCMVF Board of Directors The National CMV Foundation is deeply concerned by HRSA’s recent decision to dissolve the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC)—a cornerstone of equitable, evidence-based newborn screening for over 20 years. Without this federal oversight, there's now no national process to evaluate and recommend new conditions—including congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV), the most common infectious cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the U.S.

Volunteer Spotlight: Shelly Zappas

Meet Shelly Zappas, our Community Alliance Chair from Los Angeles, California. Shelly is a family nurse practitioner and currently, a professor and the program director for the MSN-FNP program at the University of Southern California. She has two children, one born with congenital CMV.