Convos with Dr. Kate

Kate engages Dr. Thomas Bourgeron, genetics expert, PMSF Scientific Advisory Committee member, and longstanding researcher in Phelan-McDermid syndrome. They discuss the importance of studying genetics to better understand disorders like Phelan-McDermid and autism. Dr. Bourgeron explains that in the early 2000’s, his lab and others identified a link between the SHANK3 gene and the occurrence of aut...

Join Kate, Scientific Director of PMSF, as she delves into how research funding works, how much money is required, and all the details of how PMSF's new Research Grants Program works. She explains how the program was set up, how funding categories were chosen, the review process used by scientists and families, and provides summaries of the three grants PMSF is funding in 2023/2024.

Kate highlights Dr. Sid Srivastava, a clinician at Boston Children's Hospital studying Phelan-McDermid syndrome in the Natural History Study. She asks - how did he become interested in rare diseases like Phelan-McDermid syndrome? What does a typical Natural History Study visit look like for families? What research projects is he working on? What are the biggest findings he's seen in studyi...

Dr. Conny van Ravenswaaij runs an expert Phelan-McDermid syndrome clinic in the Netherlands, and was a leading force behind the European Phelan-McDermid syndrome clinical consensus guidelines. She and Kate discuss the clinical recommendations and how to share them with your clinicians. Conny also covers a clinical trial that she ran on intranasal insulin, and current work studying Ring 22 in Phela...

Kate chats with Jaguar Gene Therapy about the progress the company has made in testing a gene therapy for Phelan-McDermid syndrome over the past couple of years. She asks what steps are still needed to take this therapy to clinical trials (if it proves safe and effective). Also covered: how gene therapy works, the target as SHANK3, ongoing animal testing, and timelines.

Recently, the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation was successful in applying for and receiving a specific ICD code (International Classification of Diseases code) for Phelan-McDermid syndrome from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Kate sits down with Annie Kennedy of the EveryLife Foundation, who has longstanding expertise in what a specific code can mean for progress for rare diseases. Kate...

Dr. Kohlenberg and Dr. Rahman are both clinicians with expertise in neuropsychiatric illness in Phelan-McDermid syndrome. They discuss the first signs and symptoms, where to find treatment guidelines, how to connect your clinician with experts, and the difference between neuropsychiatric illness and regression. They discuss top research questions and progress. Kate points out where families can fi...

Gabi Conecker leads the Inchstone Project, an effort to ensure people with conditions like PMS don't bottom out on clinical assessments and their progress is measured. For clinical trials, it is crucial to show a drug is making positive change, which requires sensitive assessments. PMSF is taking an active role in the Inchstone Project, and other projects to improve clinical assessments. Clini...

PYC Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company developing an RNA therapeutic for Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Dr. Sue Fletcher (Chief Scientific Officer) and Rebecca Simmons (current Group Lead) describe these efforts. Kate asks what exactly are RNA therapeutics? What is this drug targeting and how does it work? What are the timelines and plans going forward? What will be measured to see if the drug is...

Dr. Billy Bennett has been working with the Foundation for the past year on two initiatives that are considered family engagement research. The first is focused on the genetic counseling process and some of the common challenges families face in these meetings. We review a federally-funded research project that collected feedback from families to improve the genetic counseling process, and cover t...

Dr. Kolevzon has been leading a team of clinicians to develop clinical guidelines for the management and monitoring of PMS.  Kate asks - what are clinical consensus guidelines exactly? Which categories of medical care will be included? When will the guidelines be released? How can families best use this information? How are guidelines developed? How have the guidelines changed since the first...

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Natasha Ludwig (Kennedy Krieger Institute / Johns Hopkins) and Dr. Jenny Downs (Kids Research Institute, Australia) for an exciting update on the Inchstone Project . The Inchstone Project is a cross-syndrome collaborative international effort to improve how we measure progress and quality of life for individuals with individuals with developmental and epileptic ence...