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Hoffman Receives National Newborn Screening Award

Gary Hoffman holds his Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening

MADISON, Wis. –  Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Newborn Screening Director Gary Hoffman is the inaugural recipient of the Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening. Hoffman received his award from Dr. Harry Hannon himself at the Association of Public Health Laboratories National Newborn Screening and Genetic Testing Symposium in November. Dr. Hannon is the long-time director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's newborn screening quality assurance program.

Nearly 70,000 babies born in Wisconsin each year are tested by the WSLH for 48 congenital disorders that if left untreated can lead to slow growth, neurological impairment, brain damage and even death. However, if the conditions are detected early and treated properly, these babies have a greater chance of survival and a significantly improved quality of life.    

The Harry Hannon award honors an individual working in newborn screening worldwide with significant contributions in one or more of the following areas: assuring the quality of testing, enhancing the specificity of tests, establishing new creative laboratory approaches and technologies, providing laboratory training/education for new technologies and tests, or improving the detection of newborn disorders/conditions.

Hoffman began his career at the WSLH in 1970, became a newborn screening supervisor in 1983 and director in 1991. In addition to managing the operation of the WSLH newborn screening laboratory, he serves on seven state newborn screening advisory committees and several national advisory committees, including a technical review team that has been invited to review more than 20 state screening programs in the last six years. Hoffman does a number of speaking/training engagements at hospitals within the state and other newborn screening programs across the country as well as internationally.  He has developed, published and presented at national meetings state-of-the art methodologies and testing algorithms (ex. two-tiered IRT/DNA for Cystic Fibrosis) that are widely used today. Recently he was an external reviewer for the American College of Medical Genetics team whose goal was to harmonize the newborn screening disorders screened for in each state in the country.     

The Wisconsin Newborn Screening Program is managed by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) with all testing occurring at the WSLH, a part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Written By: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs & Training Manager
Date: November 24, 2008

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