Portsmouth Herald Published 2:00 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2023 | Updated 2:01 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2023
PORTSMOUTH — The Alex Manfull Fund, a leading nonprofit combating infection-associated immune-mediated neuropsychiatric disorders like PANDAS and PANS, has announced the formation of its inaugural Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.The Board is comprised of leading scientists and clinicians from institutions including Stanford University, Georgetown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
The 14-person, multi-disciplinary Scientific and Medical Advisory Board will advise The Alex Manfull Fund (TAMF) on advancing understanding of the causes, underlying mechanisms, and best treatments for patients with these serious disorders. The Board will also serve as a link between TAMF and the medical and research communities.
“Many members of the board are pioneers in this relatively new field and have conducted seminal research to understand and define PANDAS and PANS,” said Dr. Susan Manfull. “We are thrilled that they’ve chosen to dedicate themselves to realizing TAMF’s vision of a world without PANDAS and PANS.” Manfull and her husband William founded TAMF in 2018 following the death at age 26 of their only child, Alex Manfull, as a result of PANDAS/PANS.
The Board brings together professionals with expertise that includes neurology, neuropathology, immunology, psychiatry, rheumatology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, epidemiology, neuroethics, and the microbiome, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of the causes and treatment for PANDA/PANS
It is co-chaired by Juliette Madan, MD, MS and Richard Morse, MD from the highly respected PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. A complete list of the board’s members is below.
PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder associated with Streptococcal Infections) and PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) are complex, debilitating conditions typically triggered by common infections that primarily impact children but also adolescents and adults. These disorders present like mental illness, but the causes are different, and the types of treatment required for lasting recovery are different.
Research is accumulating to show that infections such as strep, Lyme, mycoplasma pneumonia, and even COVID can lead the immune system to dysregulate and attack healthy brain tissue, setting the stage for inflammation to occur. PANDAS, first described by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health in the 1990s and now subsumed by a broader category of neuropsychiatric disorders called PANS, is still frequently misdiagnosed by pediatricians and other physicians.
“It often takes many years and many doctor visits to get a diagnosis and proper treatment. People should not be suffering when there is hope for healing,” says Sheilah Gauch, LICSW, MEd, who is a Board Member of TAMF and Principal of Dearborn Academy, a therapeutic day school in Newton, Massachusetts.
The Alex Manfull Fund’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
Juliette Madan, MD, MS PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Richard Morse, MD PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Mark Pasternack, MD Unit Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital
Julia Zhang, MD Pediatric Rheumatologist, Tufts Medical Center
Juliette Madan, MD, MS PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Richard Morse, MD PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Mark Pasternack, MD Unit Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital
Julia Zhang, MD Pediatric Rheumatologist, Tufts Medical Center
Kyle Williams, MD, PhD Director, Pediatric Neuropsychiatry and Immunology Program in the OCD & Related Disorders Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Melissa McCormack, MD, PhD General Practice Pediatrician in private practice
Beth Latimer, MD Pediatric Neurologist in private practice
Pawel Kiela, DVM, PhD Professor, Associate Director for Basic Science Research, Associate Professor, ImmunobiologyUniversity of Arizona
Brent Harris, MD, PhD Co-director, Georgetown University Brain Bank Co-Director
Jennifer Frankovich, MD, MS Director of PANS Research Program & Co-Director of the Immune Behavioral Health Clinic Stanford University
Scott Dylla, PhD Independent Biotech Angel Investor, Advisor and Entrepreneur
James Giordano, PhD, MPhil Professor, Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry; Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program; Co-Director, O’Neill-Pellegrino Program in Brain Sciences and Global Law and Policy Georgetown University Medical Center
Peggy Chapman, PNMHCS Clinical Nurse Specialist in private practice
The Alex Manfull Fund welcomes distinguished scientists to Inaugural Medical and Scientific Advisory Board
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Updated: December 14, 2023 by bmanfull@comcast.net
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Portsmouth Herald
Published 2:00 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2023 | Updated 2:01 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2023
PORTSMOUTH — The Alex Manfull Fund, a leading nonprofit combating infection-associated immune-mediated neuropsychiatric disorders like PANDAS and PANS, has announced the formation of its inaugural Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.The Board is comprised of leading scientists and clinicians from institutions including Stanford University, Georgetown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
The 14-person, multi-disciplinary Scientific and Medical Advisory Board will advise The Alex Manfull Fund (TAMF) on advancing understanding of the causes, underlying mechanisms, and best treatments for patients with these serious disorders. The Board will also serve as a link between TAMF and the medical and research communities.
“Many members of the board are pioneers in this relatively new field and have conducted seminal research to understand and define PANDAS and PANS,” said Dr. Susan Manfull. “We are thrilled that they’ve chosen to dedicate themselves to realizing TAMF’s vision of a world without PANDAS and PANS.” Manfull and her husband William founded TAMF in 2018 following the death at age 26 of their only child, Alex Manfull, as a result of PANDAS/PANS.
The Board brings together professionals with expertise that includes neurology, neuropathology, immunology, psychiatry, rheumatology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, epidemiology, neuroethics, and the microbiome, reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of the causes and treatment for PANDA/PANS
It is co-chaired by Juliette Madan, MD, MS and Richard Morse, MD from the highly respected PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. A complete list of the board’s members is below.
PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder associated with Streptococcal Infections) and PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) are complex, debilitating conditions typically triggered by common infections that primarily impact children but also adolescents and adults. These disorders present like mental illness, but the causes are different, and the types of treatment required for lasting recovery are different.
Research is accumulating to show that infections such as strep, Lyme, mycoplasma pneumonia, and even COVID can lead the immune system to dysregulate and attack healthy brain tissue, setting the stage for inflammation to occur. PANDAS, first described by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health in the 1990s and now subsumed by a broader category of neuropsychiatric disorders called PANS, is still frequently misdiagnosed by pediatricians and other physicians.
“It often takes many years and many doctor visits to get a diagnosis and proper treatment. People should not be suffering when there is hope for healing,” says Sheilah Gauch, LICSW, MEd, who is a Board Member of TAMF and Principal of Dearborn Academy, a therapeutic day school in Newton, Massachusetts.
The Alex Manfull Fund’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
Juliette Madan, MD, MS
PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Richard Morse, MD
PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Mark Pasternack, MD
Unit Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital
Julia Zhang, MD
Pediatric Rheumatologist, Tufts Medical Center
Juliette Madan, MD, MS
PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Richard Morse, MD
PING (Psychiatry, Immunology, Neurology Group) Clinic at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Mark Pasternack, MD
Unit Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital
Julia Zhang, MD
Pediatric Rheumatologist, Tufts Medical Center
Kyle Williams, MD, PhD
Director, Pediatric Neuropsychiatry and Immunology Program in the OCD & Related Disorders Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Melissa McCormack, MD, PhD
General Practice Pediatrician in private practice
Beth Latimer, MD
Pediatric Neurologist in private practice
Pawel Kiela, DVM, PhD
Professor, Associate Director for Basic Science Research, Associate Professor, ImmunobiologyUniversity of Arizona
Brent Harris, MD, PhD
Co-director, Georgetown University Brain Bank Co-Director
Jennifer Frankovich, MD, MS
Director of PANS Research Program & Co-Director of the Immune Behavioral Health Clinic
Stanford University
Scott Dylla, PhD
Independent Biotech Angel Investor, Advisor and Entrepreneur
James Giordano, PhD, MPhil
Professor, Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry; Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program; Co-Director, O’Neill-Pellegrino Program in Brain Sciences and Global Law and Policy
Georgetown University Medical Center
Peggy Chapman, PNMHCS
Clinical Nurse Specialist in private practice
Shannon Delaney, MD
Private clinical practice
Category: Online Article, Press, Press Release Tags: Immune System, Medical and Scientific Advisory Board, PANDAS, PANS, The Alex Manfull Fund