Neurogenetics Clinic
Our Neurogenetics Clinic offers genetic counseling for families and individuals — both children and adults — who have a known genetic condition.
Genetic Counseling Experts
The Neurogenetics Clinic care team frequently sees patients with a personal and/or family history of the following conditions:
- Seizure disorder with a known genetic change
- Micro-deletion or micro-duplication syndrome that causes neurologic medical problems
- Intellectual disability with a known genetic change
- Mitochondrial disorder with a known genetic change
- Any positive (“pathogenic”) genetic test result in an individual with neurologic medical problems
Genetic counseling is also helpful to patients or family members who have had genetic testing with a positive (“pathogenic”) result and would like more information about the meaning of the test result or have a known genetic change (i.e., “mutation”) in the family that may be associated with or is definitively known to cause one of the previously mentioned conditions.
Neurogenetics Clinic Director Kate Richardson, MS, CGC, (pictured) has been working in neurogenetics for nearly a decade and has cultivated strong relationships with both UTHealth Houston pediatric and adult neurology as well as private local neurologists. She has published numerous case studies raising awareness of rare neurodevelopmental syndromes to the larger medical community in hopes of increasing access to genetic testing.
Services
The Neurogenetics Clinic collects, evaluates, and reviews medical and family histories in order to provide a thorough risk assessment for the entire family. The team interprets and explains genetic-testing results as well as the nature of the hereditary neurologic disorder so the family understands the risk of recurrence and other important factors. Because the clinic is situated in the midst of multidisciplinary professionals, the team is able to coordinate follow-up family genetic testing. We also provide counseling and support with the emotional and psychosocial impact of having a heritable neurologic condition and, if applicable, raising a child with a neurologic condition.
Clinic Information
The Neurogenetics Clinic is held every Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., in the UTHealth Houston Professional Building, Suite 824 (8th floor). For all scheduling questions call 713-500-5760. Each referral is reviewed by Clinic Director Kate Richardson for approval.
Neurogenetics Care Team
Hope Northrup, MDProfessor and Division Chief, Medical Genetics
Kate Richardson, MS, CGCAssistant Professor
