Email invitation

Attachment D - Pilot Online Data Collection for SMA PT Email Invitation

Dear Lab XXXX,

CDC is planning on introducing a spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) proficiency testing (PT) program as part of its services. Thank you for your participation and feedback in our July 2020 Pilot SMA PT event. Based on feedback received from that event, we have created a modern, online portal for data entry and submission of results. We invite you to participate in an evaluation of this new portal and the proposed SMA PT service in November of 2020. Five DBS samples will be sent out on November xx, 2020 along with a Customer Service Feedback Form and an instruction sheet. Your completed evaluation of these samples and feedback is needed no later than December xx, 2020. We are also requesting that you submit your assay data including SMN1 and housekeeping gene Cqs with corresponding amplification plots and population median Cqs for SMN1 and your housekeeping gene. Laboratory specific reports will be generated and returned to participants after CDC evaluates submissions. A summary report will be shared using data in aggregate format and will not contain any personal identifying information. Participation is voluntary and we will only ship evaluation packages to those who request them. Your participation is important in allowing CDC to evaluate its readiness to provide a routine SMA PT program. If you would like to participate in the SMA Pilot PT event and can meet these deadlines, please respond by October xx, 2020 with an affirmative to this email.

Sincerely,

NSQAP DMT