1. Personal

2. Newborn Foundation | Coalition

3. References

Personal

In 2008, Saarinen’s daughter Eve was born with an undetected critical congenital heart defect (CCHD). At five days old, Eve went into heart failure, but was saved through a timely response by hospital staff.^[2] This experience inspired Saarinen to create the Newborn Foundation | Coalition with the purpose of making newborn heart screening standard practice of care in the United States. Although Saarinen’s newborn daughter was in heart failure at 2 days old, she was nearly discharged without a diagnosis. ^[3]

In 2016, Saarinen was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Obama Administration to the federal Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) ^[4]. She has helped draft more than 40 pieces of health legislation, authored more than 200 policy briefings and co-authored numerous published manuscripts on the importance of advancing early detection and treatment of neonatal and pediatric health conditions. ^[5]

Under her leadership, the BORN Project was selected as one of only 24 global innovation projects from around the world addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals addressing human rights, health equity and innovation. ^{[6] [7][8][9]}The work of the UN Solutions Summit cohort was co-convened by the White House and the United Nations in collaborations with the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Kenyan Ministry of Technology, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Norway, the Government of Fiji and the Global Innovation Exchange.

Thus far, the BORN project has provided neonatal pulse oximetry screening training and implementation, and a data collection framework for more than 1,200 health workers, expanding its screening cohort to nearly 300,000 newborns across 200 delivery sites in 10 low and middle-income countries. It was also among the first formal public/private sector commitments to reduce preventable newborn mortality as part of the UN Secretary General’s Every Woman, Every Child initiative. ^[10]

Newborn Foundation | Coalition

In 2011, under Saarinen’s leadership, the Newborn Foundation | Coalition successfully lobbied the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to include pulse-oximetry testing for CCHDs in their universal screening recommendations. ^[1] As a result, 47 states and the District of Columbia have adapted these federal guidelines, with roughly 98% of U.S. newborns now being screened for CCHDs. As a result, all 50 states including the District of Columbia adopted these federal recommendations - known as the Routine Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP), with roughly 4 millions U.S. newborns now being screening for CCHDs using pulse oximetry. ^[4]

Currently, Saarinen is leading the BORN project, a global health initiative leveraging pulse oximetry technology to combat neonatal mortality. The project is a targeted education-and-implementation initiative with the goal of bringing low-cost, effective screening tools and procedures to low-resource environments. To date, the project has successfully screened thousands of newborns across China and India.The project is a targeted education-and-implementation initiative with the goal of bringing low-cost, effective screening tools and procedures to low-resource environments to support early diagnosis and access to treatment for medically fragile infants. To date, the project’s research pilots have successfully screened hundreds of thousands of newborns across China, Mongolia, the Philippines, India, Mexico and Bolivia. ^[2]

Saarinen is the recipient of the Betty Hubbard Maternal and Child Health Leadership Award and the Patient Safety, Science and Technology Humanitarian Award, a distinction also held by Vice President Joe Biden, UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

References

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