Drs. David H. Gutmann, Stephanie Morris and Angela Hirbe, along with members of the Missouri House of Representatives and NF patient families.
Members from the State of Missouri House of Representatives came to visit the Washington University NF Center this week to learn more about Neurofibromatosis.
Joined by several of our patient families, these delegates heard a short presentation from NF Center director, David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD. In his overview, he discussed the clinical care program, as well as exciting breakthroughs made by members of the center’s research team.
Following the presentation, three of our families spoke about the impact that NF1 has had on their children and their family lives. In particular, they eloquently discussed their personal struggles getting appropriate services for their kids, the necessity for greater public awareness of NF, and the need for higher levels of NF research funding.
In attendance were Representatives Justin Alferman, Lauren Arthur, Shamed Dogan, Kirk Mathews, DaRon McGee, Jeff Messenger, Lynn Morris, and Dean Plocher. We were also joined by two of our new faculty members, Dr. Angela Hirbe (Medical Oncology) who specializes in NF1-sarcomas and Dr. Stephanie Morris (Pediatric Neurology) with particular expertise in NF1-related attention deficits and autism.
We also extend a special thank you to Kirsten Brouillet (NF Center Coordinator) and Ellie Glenn (Director, Government Relations at Barnes-Jewish Hospital) for making this visit highly successful and productive.