Jelili Ojodu, MPH, Director, Newborn Screening and Genetics, Association of Public Health Laboratories
Mei Baker, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Co-Director in
Biography
Jelili Ojodu, MPH, is the director for Newborn Screening and Genetics at the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). He is also the project director for the Newborn Screening Technical assistance and Evaluation Programs (NewSTEPs). Mr. Ojodu is responsible for providing guidance and direction for the Newborn Screening and Genetics in Public Health Program. Mr. Ojodu works closely with state newborn screening programs in the United States to assure their capacities and capabilities, and he is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction for the newborn screening and genetics program at APHL. He has collaborated on numerous training workshops, technical conferences, symposiums for newborn screening stakeholders. Prior to joining APHL, he spent several years at Georgetown University Medical Center on a National Institutes of Health initiative to reduce infant mortality in the District of Columbia as a research associate. He received his Masters in Public Health from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Baker is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Co-Director in the Newborn Screening Laboratory at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Baker received her medical education in China, and practiced medicine there before receiving molecular genetics training in the United States. By the time she joined the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Laboratory as an Associated Scientist in 2003, Dr. Baker had been working in the molecular genetics field for over 10 years, both in academic and industrial settings. After completing a two-year Clinical Biochemical Genetics fellowship at the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, Dr. Baker accepted the Science Advisor position at the Newborn screening Laboratory of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, a joint appointment with a Clinical Health Science faculty position at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Baker obtained her American Board Medical Genetics Certification in Clinical Biochemical Genetics in 2009. In addition to routine newborn screening, Dr. Bakers research interests include applications of molecular technology in newborn screening, and public health genetics and genomics. Dr. Baker currently serves on the Laboratory Standards and Procedures Subcommittee for the Secretarys advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. She is a member of the Newborn Screening Molecular Subcommittee created by Center for Disease Control and prevention.(CDC) and Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).
Dr. Comeau is Deputy Director of the New England Newborn Screening Program and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The principal focus of Dr. Comeaus work has been population-based newborn screening. Technical advances from Dr. Comeaus laboratory have yielded sophisticated molecular assays for high-throughput population-based applications. Technical training in her laboratory and her faculty participation in national training workshops at CDC have ensured distribution of high quality bench capacities to providers working in domestic and international centers. Dr. Comeau has been an avid advocate of interdisciplinary evidence-based development and evaluation of newborn screening protocols. She has worked extensively with the CF Foundation on its newborn screening initiatives, chairs the Massachusetts CF and SCID newborn screening working groups, has been working with HRSA/APHL to promote the national adoption of sound case definitions for use by screeners and clinicians and is an active member of the Condition Review Group for External Reviews submitted to the Secretarys Advisory Committee. Her publications include development and evaluations of molecular applications in newborn screening, implications of expanded newborn screening on the healthcare community and recommendations for successful implementation of newborn screening programs such as cystic fibrosis and now SCID.
Dr. Comeau is Deputy Director of the New England Newborn Screening Program and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The principal focus of Dr. Comeaus work has been population-based newborn screening. Technical advances from Dr. Comeaus laboratory have yielded sophisticated molecular assays for high-throughput population-based applications. Technical training in her laboratory and her faculty participation in national training workshops at CDC have ensured distribution of high quality bench capacities to providers working in domestic and international centers. Dr. Comeau has been an avid advocate of interdisciplinary evidence-based development and evaluation of newborn screening protocols. She has worked extensively with the CF Foundation on its newborn screening initiatives, chairs the Massachusetts CF and SCID newborn screening working groups, has been working with HRSA/APHL to promote the national adoption of sound case definitions for use by screeners and clinicians and is an active member of the Condition Review Group for External Reviews submitted to the Secretarys Advisory Committee. Her publications include development and evaluations of molecular applications in newborn screening, implications of expanded newborn screening on the healthcare community and recommendations for successful implementation of newborn screening programs such as cystic fibrosis and now SCID.
