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9/08/2025  |   8:30 AM - 9:45 AM   |  Ski-U-Mah

Minnesota Families Share Their Experience with Universal Newborn Screening for Congenital CMV

Abstract Summary

Universal newborn screening for congenital CMV is a new experience for families in the United States. Minnesota was the first state to adopt universal screening for congenital CMV. Therefore, families from Minnesota have a unique perspective and may provide insight about universal screening. Four representative families from Minnesota whose newborns were identified as having congenital CMV through universal screening, with a varied expression of congenital CMV conditions, will be on a panel. Each family will represent a unique expression of congenital CMV, from totally asymptomatic at birth with normal hearing, to asymptomatic at birth with hearing loss at birth or later onset, to symptomatic at birth with a variety of outcomes to consider. Moderators will ask questions of the panel families that they can answer and discuss, and moderators will also invite families in the audience to share their experiences, as time allows. By sharing their experiences, families can evaluate universal newborn screening from their perspective, and help physicians, health care workers, public health officials, and policy makers adjust strategies based on data and feedback, to ensure ongoing benefits and improvement for universal screening procedures.

Learning Objectives

  • Attendees will share knowledge about congenital CMV experiences from the family perspective
  • Attendees will compare different family experiences with universal newborn screening for congenital CMV
  • Attendees will appraise universal newborn screening for congenital CMV from the family perspective

Presentation

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Presenters


Gail Demmler-Harrison | Primary Presenter

gdemmler@bcm.edu;
Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison is Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Attending Physician Infectious Diseases Service and CMV Clinic Lead at Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas. Her research, clinical experience, and expertise has focused for over 40 years on the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and long term outcomes of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in pregnant persons and their newborns. Her research has defined congenital CMV as a lifelong condition and helped change the standard of care for these children, including monitoring for sensorineural hearing loss progression and later onset hearing loss in children affected by congenital CMV. She has been instrumental in advocating for the passage of CMV education and CMV newborn screening laws, and CMV awareness. She is the author or co-author of hundreds of scientific and educational publications, book chapters, on line videos, and has presented hundreds of invited lectures and original science presentations.

ASHA DISCLOSURE

Financial - Receives Royalty options or other ownership interest for Other activities from Elsevier.   Receives Speaker for Teaching and speaking from Medscape WEBMD.   Receives Consulting fee,Grants for Consulting,Independent contractor from Merck.   Receives Consulting fee,Grants for Consulting,Independent contractor from Microgen Labs.   Receives Consulting fee,Grants for Consulting,Independent contractor from Moderna.   Receives Consulting fee,Honoraria excluding diversified mutual funds,Other financial benefit for Teaching and speaking,Consulting from WEBMD Medscape.   Receives Royalty options or other ownership interest for Other activities from Wolters Kluwer UpToDate.  

Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

AAA DISCLOSURE

Financial - Receives support from Moderna, Merck, Microgen Labs, Elsevier, Wolters/Kluwer, WEBMD Medscape for Research and spoken or written topics related to congenital infections, including congenital CMV, and neonatal infections, including neonatal HSV, and also pediatric infectious diseases in general; all activities are research/scholarly/educational and/or CME certified..  


Mark R. Schleiss | Co-Presenter

schleiss@umn.edu ;
Dr. Schleiss is a Professor of Pediatrics and holds the American Legion and Auxiliary Endowed Research Chair at the University of Minnesota Medical School. His laboratory is supported by the NIH. He conducts research in small animal models testing vaccine strategies against congenital CMV infection. His laboratory is also engaged in the study of the epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of congenital and neonatal CMV infections.

ASHA DISCLOSURE

Financial -

Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE

Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.