This week’s episode takes us back to earlier this year when Nancy GiGi and Franco were joined by Dr. Brian Skotko at the National Down Syndrome Conference! Dr. Skotko is a Board-certified medical geneticist, serving as the Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital. As the Director of the hospital’s Down Syndrome Program, he has dedicated his professional energies to children with cognitive and developmental disabilities. It was because of his sister, (Kristin) who has Down syndrome, that he originally found his calling first as an advocate, then later as a doctor.
Through Brian’s passion and dedication towards serving individuals with Down syndrome, he has created many amazing resources both for them and their families! During his first year at Harvard Medical School, he co-authored a book titled Common Threads: Celebrating Life With Down Syndrome. A book that profiles the accomplishments of 59 different people with Down syndrome! Fast forward 8 years, where he then wrote another book dedicated to helping siblings better understand the Down syndrome diagnosis, titled: Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and sisters.
Now Brian joins the podcast to tell us about his journey to better the lives of all people affected by Down syndrome and his most recent endeavor, Down Syndrome Clinics 2 You (DSC2U)! A platform created to provide personalized care plans for families that do not have access to any specialized Down syndrome clinics. This episode is full of incredible insight into resources and information given by a leading industry expert! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!