The Tourette Association of America (TAA) is proud to announce the 2024 recipients of the Young Investigator Award. Each awardee will receive a total of $150,000 across two years to support their groundbreaking work. Recognized for their exceptional commitment to understanding and advancing research in Tourette Syndrome, these individuals embody the spirit of innovation and the dedication required to foster meaningful advancements in the field.
“I’m fortunate to be a past recipient of the TAA Young Investigator Award [which] is vital to ongoing research efforts in the Tourette community broadly. That award was really critical in my own career and development as a researcher and as a clinician [allowing] me to have protected time to pursue the research and to generate pilot data.” – Dr. David Isaacs – Director, Vanderbilt Medical Center’s TAA Center of Excellence
The neurobiology underlying Tourette Syndrome has been understudied, in part, because the lack of appropriate animal models. In the current proposal, we utilize cutting edge mouse models expressing human mutations in Celsr3, a gene highly associated with Tourette Syndrome. Using these powerful genetic mouse models, we are finally able to examine and determine the neural circuitry affected in Tourette Syndrome, with the ultimate goal of identifying new targets in the brain for pharmaceutical treatment.
Every individual with Tourette Syndrome is unique with varying symptoms. Given these individual differences, the brain function underlying tics in TS is likely highly individualized. This study aims to identify individual differences in how functional brain networks coordinate and work together in TS. Using an approach to measure brain function at the individual level, by collecting hours of functional MRI data from each person, we will investigate how brain networks change between non-tic-related, pre-tic (premonitory urge), and post-tic (resolution) states. Understanding brain function underlying tics in individuals has the potential to inform personalized care and treatment in TS.
Research has long demonstrated the important role of genetic factors in the development of chronic tic disorders, including Tourette Syndrome, but how different genetic factors combine to impact an
individual’s risk remains incompletely understood. This project will employ complementary genomic methods to examine the combinatorial effect of different categories of genetic changes on risk for tics and related conditions in a cohort of families where a child is diagnosed with TS or another chronic tic disorder. This research aims to advance our fundamental understanding of how different genetic
factors impact risk of tic disorders.
Tic reduction is the primary outcome used to measure the effectiveness of Tourette Syndrome treatments. This practice assumes that decreasing tics is the primary treatment goal for all patients; however, prior research has highlighted several reasons that patients seek treatment outside of tic reduction. This study will interview patients and families seeking treatment for TS and those who have previously received TS treatment to learn more about reasons for seeking treatment and treatment goals. Information collected from interviews will be used to develop the first TS patient-centered outcome measure co-created by patients and researchers.
Learn more about the Young Investigator Award.
Find more information on the TAA’s Research & Medical efforts.
