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 On January 21-22, 2010, after ten years of operation, the Florida Birth Defects Registry held its first statewide meeting on birth defects in Florida. The conference was held at the Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore in Tampa, Florida and sponsored by the Florida Department of Health and the March of Dimes, Florida Chapter. This meeting, titled "The Florida Birth Defects Registry: Surveillance, Prevention, and Education – Science into Action, The First Ten Years", brought together public health officials, legislative staff, researchers, health care providers, child health advocates, families, and other allied professionals working to prevent birth defects and improve the lives of Florida’s families.
Participants were witness to an expert panel of speakers, at the local, state, and national levels. A wide range of topics were covered, including the embryology of neural tube defects (NTDs), the importance of birth defects surveillance, an epidemiologic report on NTDs in Florida, an assessment of the economic impact of NTDs, and tips for maintaining funding for birth defects surveillance programs. With the focus of the conference on folic acid-preventable defects, primarily NTDs, attendees were also treated to the unique opportunity to meet a family afflicted spina bifida, one of the very birth defects they strive to prevent on a daily basis.
Conference Proceedings:
Two-Day Agenda
Speaker Presentations
- The Importance of Birth Defects Surveillance
- Philip K. Cross, Assistant Director, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health
- Florida Birth Defects Registry: Science Into Action/10 Years of Operation
- Jane A. Correia, Coordinator, Florida Birth Defects Registry, Florida Department of Health (FDOH)
- Integrating and Using Maternal and Child Health Data/Partnerships
- William M. Sappenfield, State Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist, FDOH
- Health Care Strategies for Children with Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
- Lois Taylor, Director, Florida Newborn Screening Program, FDOH
- Preventable Birth Defects
- Sonja K. Rasmussen, Senior Scientist, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC
- Establishing and Maintaining Funding for a Birth Defects Surveillance Program
- Mark A. Canfield, Manager, Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Texas Department of State Health Services
- Embryology and Teratogenesis of Neural Tube Defects (NTDs)
- Thomas W. Sadler, Professor (Retired), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Folic Acid and Birth Defect Risk Reduction
- Lynn B. Bailey, Professor, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Florida
- Neural Tube Defects in Florida, Epidemiology Report
- Sharon M. Watkins, Senior Environmental Epidemiologist, FDOH
- Florida Vita-Grant Program
- Lori Reeves, State Program Director, March of Dimes Florida Chapter
- Economic Impact of Neural Tube Defects
- Cynthia H. Cassell, Assistant Professor, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
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