California Biobank Program

Forms and Information for Health Care Providers and Researchers

Providers requesting a blood spot

If a specimen is needed for testing an infant or child who becomes ill, please complete and submit CDPH Form 4407, Consent for Release of Dried Blood Specimen from GDSP (Genetic Disease Screening Program). The parent or legal guardian will need to sign the consent on Form 4407.

If you have questions regarding the California Biobank Program (CBP), email the California Biobank Program Coordinator at CaliforniaBiobank@cdph.ca.gov.

Researchers requesting blood spots or serum samples

All research projects are required to be approved by the State Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (also called the state Institutional Review Board or IRB) to be sure the study is well-designed, ethical and protects patient confidentiality.

The CBP makes specimens and data available to researchers for the following approved purposes:

Children's Diseases
Tests
Develop and evaluate treatments

The CBP requires the following information to make specimens and data available:

Request for biospecimens and/or data
Description of the research project
Researcher's name, title, contact information, and institution
Completed California Biobank Program Initial Inquiry Form (PDF).

Prenatal Screening Program participants can decline the use of their blood sample for research. This choice can be made on the MSAFP consent form. If the blood sample is stored, it may be kept for 11 years and then destroyed.

More about our programs:

The Newborn Screening Program tests all babies born in the State for multiple disorders. Newborn screening data are available from 1982 onward.
The Prenatal Screening Program is offered to pregnant individuals and recommended before the 21st week of gestation. Approximately 70% of pregnant individuals in California participate in prenatal screening.
The California Birth Defects Monitoring Program (CBDMP) Registry actively reviews medical records to identify and describe major structural and chromosomal defects in a subset of California's population. Information on birth defects is collected for the first year of life from multiple sources including hospitals, laboratories, and genetic centers. CBDMP reports current rates and occurrence patterns concerning factors such as race, ethnicity, geographic region, type of defect, mother's age, single and multiple births. If you are a researcher and want to access the CBDMP registry datasets, please contact CBDMP.