Uniting Science and Hope - COMBINEDBrain and it's Quest to Transform Research and Treatment for Rare Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Terry Jo Bichell Once Upon A Gene

ONCE UPON A GENE - EPISODE 217
Uniting Science and Hope - COMBINEDBrain and its Quest to Transform Research and Treatment for Rare Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Terry Jo Bichell

Terry Jo Bichell is a rare mom, neuroscientist and the founder of COMBINEDBrain, a nonprofit organization revolutionizing the approach to clinical treatments for rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorders by pooling efforts, studies and data. 

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Can you share a little bit about yourself and how you came into the rare disease space?
I am a mom of five grown kids and my youngest is 24 years old and has a diagnosis of Angelman syndrome. With that, everything that was interesting to me wasn't interesting anymore and I turned my attention to neurological, genetic and developmental things. I worked as a nurse and midwife before my youngest son was born and I took a particular interest in research. Research felt like it was taking forever and I had the innocent notion that I could push things faster if I only had the right science degree, so I went back to school and got a PhD in molecular neuroscience.

What inspired you to form your organization, COMBINEDBrain?
While I was working on my PhD, scientists figured out treatments for Angelman syndrome and a way to measure if the compounds were working was needed. I was drafted to work on the Angelman Biomarkers and Outcome Measures Alliance (A-BOM) and learned I could take what  I knew about Angelman and apply it to a lot of other similar disorders. I started COMBINEDBrain to take the lessons from A-BOM and expand it to as many other disorders as possible. 

What are COMBINEDBrain's key services and programs?
The biorepository has over 900 individuals represented and we collect all samples to be used for biomarker studies for use in stem cells. We have a COMBINEDBrain registry that any disorder member can use for free and transfer data into their own portal. Project FIND-OUT has a goal of facilitating early diagnosis of rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorders in infants based on 7 symptom categories. In the future, we'll also expand this offering to adults. 

Can you tell us about the COMBINEDBrain Roadshow?
Many of our participating member organizations are having conferences this year across the country. We have asked each organization to open their conference to other member organizations so we can collect COMBINEDBrain member samples at those sites. This allows us to meet local families and opens up an opportunity to stop by the conference and submit their donation. We can also send a mobile phlebotomist to patient homes to collect and submit samples. 

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED
COMBINEDBrain
https://combinedbrain.org/
Angelman Syndrome Foundation
https://www.angelman.org/
The Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics
https://cureangelman.org/
Simons Searchlight
https://www.simonssearchlight.org/
Rare-X
https://rare-x.org/
Probably Genetic
https://www.probablygenetic.com/
AmbitCare
https://ambitcare.com/geneticseizures/
Project FIND-OUT
https://projectfindout.org/

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