Providing Blood Specimens to Researchers Across the World

Our Specimens

Inventory includes over five million residual newborn screening dried blood spot specimens representing nearly every Michigan birth since 1989.

Dried Blood Spots Specimens and MDHHS Data

After obtaining the appropriate approvals, MDHHS can link blood spot specimens to Michigan's public health registries making it possible to request de-identified and non-unique specimens with a known health outcome. 

Important Resource

Over 160 biomarkers and compounds have been measured in dried blood spots, from DNA and proteins to metals and infectious agents.  They are an excellent source of specimens for both epidemiological investigations and studies of how genes interact with the environment, as well as for assay development.

Your Research

Researchers have used specimens for studies that look at:

• Methylation patterns in cases of autism, ADHD, and CHD.
• Health outcomes in babies conceived by IVF.
• Assay development or improvement for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and Muscular Dystrophy (MD).
• The effect on hearing of pre-natal exposure to heavy metals.
• The influence of the epigenetic processes on the prediction of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
• Exposures to mercury, lead and tobacco.
• And more…