United for TSC
2025 International TSC Research Meeting: The picture of collaboration
Interdisciplinary group of current and former UTHealth Houston team members at the International TSC Research Conference
The 2025 International TSC (Tuberous Sclerosis Complex) Research Conference, held June 26-28 in Bethesda, MD, was well attended by the UTHealth Houston TSC Center of Excellence (TSC CoE) care team. “We were 16 strong, including two of our former students!” Division Chief Hope Northrup, MD, said.
Genetic Counselor Kate Richardson, MS, CGC, was on the planning committee for the meeting and was moderator at the opening plenary session. Two of Kate’s former genetic counseling students submitted abstracts on their thesis projects and received travel awards as well as being chosen for platform presentations: Laura Gorecki, MS, presented “Influential Factors for Disclosing a Tuberous Sclerosis Diagnosis to Romantic Partners” and Kirstin Risgaard, MS, presented “The Relationship Between Sleep and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in Adults.”
Laura Farach, MD, along with an assistant professor from a university in Canada, designed and headed a mini-symposium: “TSC Disease Mechanisms and Genetics.” The four-hour session featured eight speakers and had a packed room with attendees overflowing into the corridor.
L-R: Kate Richardson, MS, CGC, makes remarks at opening session; Laura Farach, MD, speaks at the symposium she helped plan
Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences Laura Friel, MD, PhD, spoke in the opening plenary on “Considerations for the Management of Pregnant Persons with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Showing High Rates of Pre-eclampsia.” Dr. Friel and Kate Richardson are on the TSC Alliance task force to research maternal-fetal issues in TSC.
Other Department of Pediatrics members who attended were:
- Professor Mary Kay Koenig, MD; Assistant Professors Shelley Varnado, MD, and Sarah Lund Wilson, MD, from Child & Adolescent Neurology
- Professor and Division Chief Joshua Samuels, MD, from Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension
- Associate Professors Kit Sing “Paul” Au, MPhil, PhD, and David F. Rodriguez-Buritica, MD; TSC Center of Excellence Nurse Coordinator Claire Sartwell, BSN; and Research Coordinator Mariam Lugo-Noguera from Medical Genetics
Additionally, two TSC CoE-involved faculty from other Departments were able to attend as well: Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Deborah Pearson, PhD, and Professor of Internal Medicine Rosa Estrada-Y-Martin, MD, MSC, CQM, FCCP. Dr. Pearson is a clinical psychologist who provides assessments of many TSC patients for clinical as well as research indications. Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin is a pulmonologist who leads the certified Clinic for LAM & Rare Lung Diseases. Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM, is commonly observed in women affected with TSC, and Dr. Estrada-Y-Martin cares for adult women who have LAM as part of their TSC phenotype.
“It was exciting to see our TSC CoE as one of the leading centers in the nation so well represented at the International Research Conference. Many connections were made with clinicians and researchers from around the world allowing us to continue our mission of providing leading-edge care, raising awareness of TSC, and performing research to help improve the health of those affected with TSC,” Dr. Northrup said.
