Dr. Schmitt comes to us from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, where she is an associate professor. While her degree is in psychology, Lauren describes herself as “a translational researcher investigating neurodevelopmental disorders from gene to protein expression, to brain function and behavior”. She has focused much of her research and work in the Fragile X community. Her interest is in the evolution of bringing science from bench to bedside to community.

 

Some of you may recognize Lauren’s name from the 2016 PMSF conference, where, as a graduate student, she helped write up the science and research findings for eventual publication as a white paper.

 

Lauren will start full time in December and will begin working part time prior to her official start. We will have a series of virtual meet and greets so you can get to know this fabulous addition to our team. In the meantime, she asked that we share a few words of introduction:

 

“I could not be more excited to join the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation community as the Chief Science Officer! Over the past seven years as a clinical psychologist and translational researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center specializing in other genetic forms of intellectual disability and autism, I have developed a deep-seated passion for ensuring the voices of patients and their families are involved in every stage in the research process—from identifying the research question, to deciding the study design, to sharing the findings back to families. I look forward to serving in this role at PMSF and being the interface between families, researchers, physicians/clinicians, and industry.”

 

Our gratitude to the following people who assisted in the selection process: Diane Linnehan, Dr. Alycia Halladay, Dr. Heidi Grabbenstatter, Dr. William Bennett, Dr. Chris Winrow, Elizabeth Brookshire, Abi Fiore, Dr. Avis Barker, Amanda Bergen, Shira Johnson, Priscilla Hackstadt, and Carla D’Imperio.