ASPIRE Blog

My name is Ella and I was diagnosed with PANDAS at age 13, now 15. Before PANDAS I was a four-sport athlete (basketball being my favorite), I loved hanging out with friends and family, I was doing good in school, and I was your normal teenager. 

ASPIRE sits down with Julie Cox, LCSW, to discuss why therapeutic strategies can be beneficial to PANS PANDAS parents and caregivers, how not to pathologize everything, and ways to accept that the healing journey is often slower than we would like it to be.

Interview with Christopher Pittenger, MD on the study: Antibodies From Children With PANDAS Bind Specifically to Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons and Alter Their Activity ASPIRE sat down with Christopher Pittenger, MD, […]

Antibodies From Children With PANDAS Bind Specifically to Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons and Alter Their Activity Jian Xu, Rong-Jian Liu, Shaylyn Fahey, Luciana Frick, James Leckman, Flora Vaccarino, Ronald S. Duman, […]

Romy runs an Instagram and Facebook account Tourettics Unite to spread awareness on Tourettes, OCD, and PANS/PANDAS. She and I have been touch a little bit over the past few months, and I have been impressed by her work. Recently Romy shared a video of her reciting a poem about OCD and Mental Health that I want to share with you all. So we sat down remotely and talked about her story, her recent efforts to pursue a PANS PANDAS diagnosis and treatment, and why she wants to help spread understanding about these conditions.

ASPIRE created an electronic poster for the National Council for Behavioral Health (NATCON) conference. The poster is really a mini-website with a comprehensive overview of PANS/PANDAS including important information on […]

Please complete this study from the Karolinksa Institute on PAN/PANDAS during the Corona Pandemic. It will only take up to ten minutes. If you have several children with PANS/PANDAS, you can take the survey multiple times, once for each child. 

ASPIRE thanks the NECH team for continuing to host talks and having ASPIRE write notes to share with the community. Patients of Dr. O’Hara and Dr. Wells can ask additional […]

In response to the COVID-19, a global pandemic, that has affected all of our lives, ASPIRE is putting together a series of Q&As from a variety of professionals.  We will be updating this resource section as interviews are completed, so check back often and follow us on social media for updates.

Recently Dr. O’Hara and Vicki Kobliner held a Question & Answer zoom meeting for topics including COVID-19, Lyme, PANS PANDAS

Viral Pandemics as Possible Psycho-immunological Causes of Psychiatric Symptoms: From Past to Present Download Study Aytac HM, Pehlivan S. Viral Pandemics as Possible Psycho-immunological Causes of Psychiatric Symptoms: From Past […]

So here we are, graduating by the skin of our teeth. Today with 13 months of sobriety. Just out of another flare in March, as allergies also trigger his immune system, he is holding a job down in a restaurant. Recording music and instrumental tracks. Fishing with his friends. Working on his car, and looking carefully to his future where he will start at the local JC.

Yeah, you bet. I am one proud mom.