Sunshine Genetics Act Signing

The future of medicine is here through genetic testing. Quest Diagnostics is proud to collaborate with the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases (IPRD) at Florida State University (FSU) and celebrate the signing of the Sunshine Genetics Act in the state of Florida.

Through this bipartisan legislation, every newborn in Florida—nearly 220,000 per year—will have access to whole genome sequencing (WGS). The Pilot Program will offer the sequencing at no cost for 10,000 newborns. By eliminating barriers to WGS, infants can potentially receive a critical diagnosis of a rare disease just 2 to 3 weeks after birth. This allows these children to receive critical, early treatment interventions before symptoms may even appear.

Florida is the first state to offer a groundbreaking program like this. This program will change lives, and the positive impact will be felt for generations.

Quest Diagnostics has provided consultative support to the IPRD to establish a CLIA-certified clinical genomics laboratory at Florida State University. In addition, Andrew N. Young M.D., from Quest will serve as the Medical Director of the IPRD CLIA Laboratory. It’s wonderful for these teams to come together for these children and the future of Florida’s health. Thank you to Dr Pradeep Bhide, Dr Cynthia Vied, and their teams for their vision and collaboration.