Research

Simons Searchlight Quarterly Report – August 2023

By Sandra McEntee / August 29, 2023 / Comments Off on Simons Searchlight Quarterly Report – August 2023

Our friends at @SimonsSearchlight created a new quarterly report with updated information shared by our families and feature a special spotlight on developmental growth charts, using insights based on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Vineland-3) data, which show skills at different ages. Caregivers share how their loved ones with the genetic condition progress in communication, self-care,…

We Are Rare But We Are There!

By Sandra McEntee / May 24, 2023 / Comments Off on We Are Rare But We Are There!

Last July Amber asked me to help launch the Ciitizen partnership with SLC6A1 to create a new digital Natural History Study.  Ciitizen was founded with a mission to let patients control their own health records to aid in their own healthcare and to advance research.  They developed the Rare Patient Network, which is a collaboration…

#ShineYourSearchlight Step 6 – Update Simons Searchlight Yearly

By Sandra McEntee / May 3, 2023 / Comments Off on #ShineYourSearchlight Step 6 – Update Simons Searchlight Yearly

#ShineYourSearchlight ? Continue your @SimonsSearchlight journey and help our community grow! Your involvement can lead to important insights so current and future families can find hope for their family. The more data we collect over time, the better picture we will have of what it means to have SLC6A1. Go to your dashboard to finish…

#ShineYourSearchlight Step 5 – Provide an Optional Blood Sample

By Sandra McEntee / April 5, 2023 / Comments Off on #ShineYourSearchlight Step 5 – Provide an Optional Blood Sample

#ShineYourSearchlight ? Do you live in the United States? Make sure your genetic variant is part of the @SimonsSearchlight biorepository! It is important to represent yourself and have researchers looking at YOUR specific information! Your blood sample can help in creating future therapies and treatments. Contact coordinator@simonssearchlight.org to learn more. #SLC6A1 View all Participation Steps: bit.ly/ShineYourSearchlightCampaign

How Your Donations Multiply

By Sandra McEntee / April 1, 2023 / Comments Off on How Your Donations Multiply

Why do you see so many fundraising emails and posts for SLC6A1 Connect?  Where does all this money go? I have wondered this since first talking with SLC6A1 Connect CEO and Founder, Amber Freed, after my daughter’s diagnosis in early November 2020.  Amber outlined two parallel tracks the organization was following: Research and Fundraising. I…

#ShineYourSearchlight Step 4 – Complete Surveys

By Sandra McEntee / March 22, 2023 / Comments Off on #ShineYourSearchlight Step 4 – Complete Surveys

#ShineYourSearchlight ? Have you completed @SimonsSearchlight surveys? They collect information on behavior, communication, motor skills and more. Long-term participation and completing surveys are critically important to the success of research into SLC6A1. Go to your dashboard to complete your surveys: bit.ly/Simons_Searchlight_Dashboard #SLC6A1   View all Participation Steps: bit.ly/ShineYourSearchlightCampaign 

Rare Disease Week: Meet the SLC6A1 kids

By Kevin McEntee / February 28, 2023 / Comments Off on Rare Disease Week: Meet the SLC6A1 kids

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters of SLC6A1 Connect, As Rare Disease Day 2023 is upon us, we are still fighting every day for our children to have the best chance they can have at life.  We didn’t ask or hope to be here, again. We don’t want to be begging for answers, for money, for…

Rare Disease Week

By Kevin McEntee / February 25, 2023 / Comments Off on Rare Disease Week

Hello again! In continuation of Rare Disease Week, we want to talk specifically about the rare disease that affects our kids and families, SLC6A1 Epileptic Encephalopathy.  SLC6A1 epileptic encephalopathy is a rare neurological condition in children that causes seizures, severe movement and speech disorders, and intellectual disability. As rare disease parents, we simply cannot accept that nothing can be…

Celebrating Like it’s 2017

By SLC6A1 Gene / March 27, 2021 / Comments Off on Celebrating Like it’s 2017

I was exactly 34 weeks pregnant, and it was the day of my maternity photoshoot.  Our sweet photographer said 34 weeks is the perfect time because women are glowing, but that is not the case when you are 5’2, 100 pounds and carrying twins.  I could barely walk, Mark put on my shoes and I…

No Research, No Treatment, No Hope

By SLC6A1 Gene / September 10, 2020 / Comments Off on No Research, No Treatment, No Hope

Only 4% of Federal Research Funding is Dedicated to Pediatric Cancer and the 5-year Survival Rate is 2%.  Rare Pediatric Diseases are Mostly a Death Sentence for a Life that Never Began. Today is a terrible anniversary for my dear friends, Chris & Chantal Pittman. My family was entrenched in the diagnostic odyssey and desperately…