News

This year’s FAST Summit & Gala in Chicago generated a record $4.1 million for Angelman syndrome research — more than triple the $1.3 million raised at the 2016 gala. Colin Farrell and other Hollywood stars who attended the dinner on Dec. 2 helped attract nearly 1,300 people to the two-day…

Karen Haberberg, a New York portrait photographer, has taken tens of thousands of pictures throughout her career of families, couples, pregnant women, teenagers, and fashion models — not to mention dramatic landscape shots from Iceland to Indonesia. She’s also done several personal photo projects, including “Benjamin,” a haunting portrayal…

Ovid Therapeutics is recruiting adult patients with Angelman syndrome to a Phase 2 clinical trial of gaboxadol, a compound that aims to treat the disease by restoring lost inhibitory brain signaling. The study, which is running in a number of U.S. clinics and Israel, aims to recruit 75 patients…

Machine learning methods could improve the ability of clinical trials to detect if treatments targeting the brain — such as for Angelman syndrome — are effective, as these methods are more sensitive to change than traditional statistical tests, say researchers from University College London. Such methods could solve the problem…

The successful development of meaningful therapies for rare diseases such as Angelman syndrome requires scientists to find out what matters most to patients with these conditions, two European researchers argued in an opinion piece promoting patient-centered outcomes. In the commentary, published in the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, the…

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) says it’s “disappointed and dismayed” after the House of Representatives voted 227-205 last week to repeal the Orphan Drug Tax Credit as part of a U.S. tax reform package. A similar package before the Senate Finance Committee does not repeal the credit…

The Angelman Syndrome Foundation (ASF) plans to award one- or two-year grants of up to $100,000 to projects that test new ideas regarding the biology behind Angelman syndrome and treatments for the genetic disease. The ASF conducts biannual calls for proposals through its research funding program. Applications are accepted on a rolling…

A statin used to lower blood cholesterol levels, lovastatin, was seen to ease seizures and the excitatory neurotransmission that accompanies them in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome (AS)-associated epilepsy, researchers report. The steps taken in this study, its authors suggest, may also serve as a model for testing potential anti-epilepsy…

Based on the case study of a boy who has a rare defect in the UBE3A gene that went undetected using the usual genetic tests for Angelman Syndrome, a team of London researchers has recommended special analyses to detect the mutation. The study, “Angelman Syndrome due to…

Patients with Angelman syndrome (AS) often have gastrointestinal (GI) issues such as constipation, reflux and abnormal food-related behaviors, according to new research. The study, “Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in Angelman syndrome,” appeared in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. Its senior author is…