Newsroom
Find the latest news about the Early Check research program and access our resources for the media.
Recent News
Early Check team members contribute to national report on US newborn screening system
May 2025
Assessing the acceptability of using patient portals to recruit pregnant women and new mothers for maternal-child health research
JAMIA Open
May 2025
Early Check held a virtual meeting for patient advocacy groups on February 11th, 2025 to share parent, advocate, and clinician perspectives about genomic newborn screening.
February 2025
Dr. Powell Retires from UNC and Transitions to Early Check Senior Medical Advisor
October 2024
Genetic Screening to Save Lives
The Measure of Everyday Life
September 2024
Pioneering studies show promise in sequencing a baby's genome at birth
This article highlights Early Check, a research study led by our experts in collaboration with UNC at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the NC State Laboratory of Public Health.
June 2024
Early Check newborn screening study taps Revvity to provide genome sequencing
RTI International Newsroom
April 2024
A Newborn Genetic Screening Study Reaches New Milestone
UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine Newsroom
February 2024
A newborn genetic screening study reaches new milestone
EurekAlert!
February 2024
Early Check genome sequencing study reaches milestone of over 1,000 newborns screened in North Carolina
RTI International
February 2024
Program checks for rare diseases in North Carolina infants
Fox8
November 2023
International Newborn Genome Sequencing Projects Discuss Differences, Future Goals
Genome Web (free account required)
October 2023
How Genome Sequencing Can Broaden the Scope of Newborn Screening
MedCity News
September 2023
Research Triangle Institute Partners With GeneDx, Illumina for Expanded Newborn Screening Study
Genome Web (free account required)
September 2023
Triangle researchers announce ‘Early Check’ study that could improve health outcomes for NC newborns
CBS17
September 2023
Early Check study to use genome sequencing to dramatically expand voluntary screening offered for North Carolina newborns
RTI International
September 2023
Genomic testing - a revolution in newborn screening
Rare Revolution Magazine
June 2023
Screening Aimed to Advance Public Health Outcomes for Newborns
RTI International
May 2023
Baby First at UNC to Receive Gene Therapy for SMA, Thanks to Early Check Newborn Screening
UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine Newsroom
July 2021
Research Triangle study may help save children's lives
WRAL
June 2021
Three Babies with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Have Bright Futures Thanks in Part to North Carolina’s Early Check Program
RTI International
March 2021
New Paper: A Voluntary Statewide Newborn Screening Pilot for SMA: Results from Early Check
International Journal of Neonatal Screening
March 2021
NC study offers new parents head start in identifying rare diseases
WRAL
March 2020
New Paper Describes Method for Detecting Fragile X
RTI International
March 2020
Fragile X Added to Newborn Screening in North Carolina Through New Study
Fragile X News Today
October 2018
You can get your baby tested for two rare genetic disorders — for free
The News & Observer
October 2018
New NC-Based Study to Advance Research Through Free and Expanded Health Screening for Newborn Babies
RTI International
October 2018
Generating Evidence to Inform Newborn Screening for Rare Disorders
Presentation at Duke Genomic and Precision Medicine Forum
April 2018
CTSA Program Investigators Collaborate to Enhance Newborn Screening
UNC NCTraCS
June 2017
Advancing Research through Expanded Newborn Screening
RTI International
January 2017
Research Publications
- , , , , , , & (2023). Misunderstood terms and concepts identified through user testing of educational materials for fragile X premutation: "Not weak or fragile?". Journal of Genetic Counseling, 00, 1– 11.
- Bailey Jr, D. B. (2022). A Window of Opportunity for Newborn Screening. Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy, 26(3), 253-261.
- Peay, H. L., Gwaltney, A. Y., Moultrie, R., Cope, H., Lincoln-Boyea, B., Porter, K. A., Duparc, M., Alexander, A. A., Biesecker, B., Isiaq, A., Check, J., Gehtland, L., Bailey Jr., D. B., & King, N. M. (2022). Education and Consent for Population-Based DNA Screening: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Early Check Newborn Screening Pilot Study. Frontiers in genetics, 13, 891592.
- McInnis, S., Sobolewski, J., Dass, M., Gehtland, L.M., and Bailey Jr, D. B. (2022) Using Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest advertising campaigns to increase enrollment in newborn screening research. Front. Commun. 7:1052355.
- Migliore, B. A., Zhou, L., Duparc, M., Robles, V. R., Rehder, C. W., Peay, H. L., & Kucera, K. S. (2022). Evaluation of the GSP Creatine Kinase-MM Assay and Assessment of CK-MM Stability in Newborn, Patient, and Contrived Dried Blood Spots for Newborn Screening for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. International journal of neonatal screening, 8(1), 12.
- Gehtland, L. M., Paquin, R. S., Andrews, S. M., Lee, A. M., Gwaltney, A., Duparc, M., Pfaff, E. R., & Bailey Jr, D. B. (2022). Using a Patient Portal to Increase Enrollment in a Newborn Screening Research Study: Observational Study. JMIR pediatrics and parenting, 5(1), e30941.
- Katerina S. Kucera, Jennifer L. Taylor, Veronica R. Robles, Kristin Clinard, Brooke Migliore, Beth Lincoln Boyea, Katherine C. Okoniewski, Martin Duparc, Catherine W. Rehder, Scott M. Shone, Zheng Fan, Melissa Raspa, Holly L. Peay, Anne C. Wheeler, Cynthia M. Powell, Donald B. Bailey, Jr. and Lisa M. Gehtland. A Voluntary Statewide Newborn Screening Pilot for Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Results from Early Check. International Journal of Neonatal Screening, 2021 Mar 21;7(1):20.
- Paquin, R. S., Lewis, M. A., Harper, B. A., Moultrie, R. R., Gwaltney, A., Gehtland, L. M., Peay, H., Duparc, M., Raspa, M., Wheeler, A. C., Powell, C. M., King, N. M., Shone, S., & Bailey Jr, D. B. (2021). Outreach to new mothers through direct mail and email: recruitment in the Early Check research study. Clinical and translational science, 14(3), 880-889. (2021)
- Stacey Lee, Jennifer L. Taylor, Charles Redmond, Andrew G. Hadd, Jon A. Kemppainen, Brian C. Haynes, Scott Shone, Donald B. Bailey Jr., Gary J. Latham. Validation of Fragile X Screening in the Newborn Population Using a Fit-for-Purpose FMR1 PCR Assay System. The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, Volume 22, Issue 3, March 2020, Pages 346-354
- Guillory, J., Jordan, A., Paquin, R. S., Pikowski, J., McInnis, S., Anakaraonye, A., Peay, H., & Lewis, M. A. (2020). Using social media to conduct outreach and recruitment for expanded newborn screening. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 21.
- Gehtland, L. M., & Bailey, D. B. (2019). Early check: A North Carolina research partnership. North Carolina Medical Journal, 80(1), 59-61.
- Okoniewski, K. C., Wheeler, A. C., Lee, S., Boyea, B., Raspa, M., Taylor, J. L., & Bailey, D. B. (2019). Early identification of fragile X syndrome through expanded newborn screening. Brain Sciences, 9(1), 4.
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Bailey, D. B., Gehtland, L. M., Lewis, M. A., Peay, H., Raspa, M., Shone, S. M., Taylor, J., Wheeler, A., Cotten, M., King, N.M., Powell, C. M., Biesecker, B., Bishop, C. E., Boyea, B. L., Duparc, M., Harper, B. A., Kemper, A. R., Lee, S. N., Moultrie, R., Okoniewski, K. C., Paquin, R. S., Pettit, D., Porter, K. A., & Zimmerman, S. J. (2019). Early Check: translational science at the intersection of public health and newborn screening. BMC pediatrics, 19(1), 1-13. (2019)
- Bailey, D. B., Berry-Kravis, E., Gane, L. W., Guarda, S., Hagerman, R., Powell, C. M., Tassone, F., & Wheeler, A. (2017). Fragile X newborn screening: lessons learned from a multisite screening study. Pediatrics, 139(Suppl 3), S216-S225.
- Bailey, D. B. & Gehtland, L. (2015). Newborn screening: Evolving challenges in an era of rapid discovery. JAMA, 313(15), 1511-1512.
- Paquin, R. S., Peay, H. L., Gehtland, L. M., Lewis, M., & Bailey, D. B. (2016). Parental intentions to enroll children in a voluntary expanded newborn screening program. Social Science & Medicine, 166, 17-24. Epub 2016 Jul 29.