Cognition and Evolution

Consciousness and how it got to be that way

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Help Downs Syndrome Families - The Trisomy 21 Act

The Trisomy 21 Act which was introduced in Congress a couple of years ago. (Down Syndrome is usually caused by having an extra copy of the twenty-first chromosome, hence the name.) Unfortunately the bill died in committee. It has been resurrected by a bipartisan team of legislators, two of whom have kids with Down Syndrome.



What will this bill do? Expand and intensify Down Syndrome programs at NIH and the CDC; create a research database; and create at least six Translational Research Centers of Excellence. Translational research is research that can go from the lab to the clinic - in other words, medicine. This is truly an exciting time to be working on Down Syndrome.

More information is available at this website. At the bottom of the page is an easy to use template to send an e-mail message to your congressperson requesting co-sponsorship of the bill. It will automatically insert your representative based on your address (just in case you don't know who it is). I completed this before I wrote this blog post.

Please share this with colleagues, friends and family members!


More information: The Trisomy 21 Act




Posted by at
Labels: ,

2 comments:

  1. ShelleyAugust 10, 2011 at 9:28 AM

    Thanks for posting this, Michael! Funding for research on Down syndrome has always lagged behind less common disorders, I think because parents were told there's no "cure." But now there is research -- especially at UCSD -- that may help with cognition and forestall Alzheimer's disease.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael CatonAugust 10, 2011 at 6:57 PM

    Absolutely, and that's why we can't drop the ball now. Thanks for putting out the word about this.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)