Full Conference Agenda

Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference 2021 (Virtual) May 13-14, 2021 Hosted by Foundation For Children With Neuroimmune Disorders

The Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference features nationally and internationally renowned experts skilled in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches who will present a diverse range of emerging clinical and research challenges, insights, and advances in the field of inflammatory brain disorders.

The intended audience is pediatric and adult physicians. Both generalists as well as specialists will find the conference valuable to their practices. The conference is designed for pediatricians, family physicians, psychiatrists, rheumatologists, immunologists, neurologists, and infectious disease physicians. Though the conference is designed for physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners will find the series valuable to their practices as well.

Though all content is geared towards clinicians, patients, parents, and families are welcome to join us the 13th.

The live event May 14 will be open only to MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs, and psychologists and will feature an intensive designed to give medical clinicians the tools they need to feel confident diagnosing and treating inflammatory brain conditions including PANS. Additional follow up support will be given through monthly Case-Based Q&A webinars for clinicians featuring experts in the field. While families and patients without the aforementioned credentials are not welcome to join the live event on the second day a link to watch the recording will be sent to all registrants.

All registrants will receive a recording of the conference. Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation, such as a sign language interpreter, by contacting conference@neuroimmune.org or 608-381-0367.  Requests should be made as early as possible to allow time to arrange the accommodation.

May 13, 2021, 10:00 am CST

Keynote: Sam Pleasure, MD, PhD
Glenn W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Endowed Chair Professor, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Director Neuroscience Graduate Program, UCSF Joined by Claire Johns, MD, second year medical resident at UCSF
Neuropsychiatric Presentation in Pediatric COVID-19 Patients Associated with Anti-neural Autoantibodies (Joined by Dr. Claire Johns)
10:00 am – 11:00 am, CST
Maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Learning Objectives:
• Primary objective: Describe the association between anti-neural autoantibodies and neuropsychiatric dysfunction in pediatric COVID-19 patients.
• Cases: Three cases of teenage COVID-19 patients who presented with primarily neuropsychiatric manifestations, and had their CSF interrogated for anti-SARS-CoV-2 and autoreactive antibodies.
• Findings: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and anti-neural antibodies were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of two of three pediatric COVID-19 patients with neuropsychiatric dysfunction.
• Conclusions: A subset of pediatric COVID-19 patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms have detectable anti-neural autoantibodies in their CSF.

Biography for Dr. Sam Pleasure: Dr. Sam Pleasure is the Glenn W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Endowed Chair in Neurology at UCSF. Dr. Pleasure is a neurologist who specializes in caring for patients with multiple sclerosis. He also has expertise in caring for patients with epilepsy as well as years of experience in managing a variety of neurological conditions in both clinic and hospital settings. Dr. Pleasure has two main areas of inquiry for his research. He studies processes that regulate early brain development in both normal and diseased situations. He also studies autoimmune forms of meningoencephalitis, where inflammation in specific brain areas causes severe neurologic dysfunction. Pleasure received his medical degree and a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. He was chief resident during his neurology residency at UCSF, where he then completed a research fellowship in neuroscience Pleasure is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, American Epilepsy Society, Society for Neuroscience, Society for Developmental Biology and Cajal Club. He has won numerous awards for his research and has received research funding from a wide variety of private, state and federal sources. He has served in leadership roles in national organizations and in the UCSF Department of Neurology.

Biography for Dr. Claire Johns: Dr. Johns is currently a second-year Pediatric Resident at University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital. She obtained her medical degree from University of California, San Francisco and attended undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley. In between undergraduate and medical school she spent 3 years conducting research at the Salk Institute and University of California, San Diego.

Richard Frye, MD, PhD
Chief of the Division of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Phoenix Children’s Hospital Professor, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s Professor, Pediatric Neurology, The Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Scottsdale, AZ
Metabolic and Mitochondrial Considerations in Neuropsychiatric Deteriorations
11:00 am – 11:45 am, CST
Maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Richard Frye:Dr. Richard Frye is a Child Neurologist with expertise in neurodevelopmental and neurometabolic disorders. He is the Chief of the Division of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at. Phoenix Children’s Hospital and received an MD and PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Miami, Residency in Child Neurology and Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology and Learning Disabilities at Harvard University/Children’s Hospital Boston and Fellowship in Psychology at Boston University. He also received a Masters in Biomedical Science and Biostatistics from Drexel University. He holds board certifications in General Pediatrics, and in Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and serves on several editorial boards. He has conducted several clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of safe and novel treatments that target underlying physiological abnormalities in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Learning Objectives:
• To understand the physiological abnormalities associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. • To understand the contribution of metabolic abnormalities to the symptomatology and pathology associated with neurodevelopmental disorders
• To understand novel treatment targets that potentially could improve function in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders

Jennifer Frankovich, MD
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Stanford University School of Medicine Co-Director, Stanford Children’s Immune Behavioral Health Clinic Director, Stanford Immune Behavioral Health Research Program Rheumatology & Psychiatry.
What We Can Learn From Overlapping Conditions
11:45 am – 12:45 pm, CST
Maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Jennifer Frankovich: Dr. Frankovich’s primary research and clinical interest is in the intersection between mental health and systemic inflammation. She co-founded the Stanford PANS multidisciplinary clinic and research program. Alongside other collaborators, she is building a large biorepository of patient blood samples and clinical data to share with basic scientists around the world. She collaborates with approximately 10 basic science/genetics labs to characterize the immunophenotypes of active PANS compared to remission samples and age matched controls. Her ultimate goal is to understand the immunological factors contributing to mental health disturbances and to innovate effective multidisciplinary treatment regimens.

Learning Objectives:
• Recognize rheumatic conditions that overlap with psychiatric disease
• Describe a few clinical evaluation pearls or clues that the child has a rheumatic conditions
• Understand general approach to treatment

12:45 – 1: 15 break

Christopher Bartley, MD, PhD
Immunopsychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Autoantibody Discovery in Psychotic Spectrum Disorders
1:15 – 2:00 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Christopher Bartley: Dr. Christopher Bartley is an immunopsychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Bartley earned a PhD with distinction in neurobiology from Yale University in 2014 and graduated cum laude from Yale School of Medicine in 2015. In 2017, Dr. Bartley was selected for the prestigious Outstanding Resident Award by the National Institute of Mental Health. After being awarded two teaching prizes during his psychiatry residency at UCSF, he was selected to serve as Chief Resident of Education. Upon graduation in 2019 he was awarded the Edwin F. Alston award for Leadership in Psychiatry. After graduation, he remained with the department to develop a consultation clinic that specializes in the evaluation and management of adults with immunologic disorders and co-morbid psychiatric illnesses. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Bartley’s research program is focused on the discovery and characterization of autoantibodies in psychiatric syndromes. His research is supported by multiple awards, including a highly competitive Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna H. Gray Fellowship.

Learning Objectives:
• Become familiar with the autoimmune hypothesis of schizophrenia
• Become familiar with the evidence for autoimmunity in psychotic spectrum disorders
• Learn what may help to distinguish autoimmune psychosis from idiopathic psychosis
• Learn about early findings in autoantibody discovery in psychotic spectrum disorders

Hrissanthi (Chris) Ikonomidou, MD, PhD
Chief, Section of Pediatric Neurology, University of Wisconsin American Family Children’s Hospital Faculty, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
A Neurologist’s Perspective on PANS: Case Studies
2:00 – 2:30 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Hrissanthi Ikonomidou: Dr. Hrissanthi (Chris) Ikonomidou is a Child Neurologist and physician researcher with expertise in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. She is the Division Chief of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Wisconsin Madison and American Family Children’s Hospital. She received her MD and PhD degrees from the University of Goettingen in Germany. She completed her residency and Pediatric Neurology fellowship at Washington University in St Louis and holds board certification in Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology and UCNS certification in Headache. Dr Ikonomidou and her team discovered that imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the developing brain can lead to brain injuries and subsequent neurologic, cognitive and mental disabilities. Several pediatric drugs, including sedatives, anesthetics and anticonvulsants utilize these mechanisms to elicit their therapeutic effects and bear the potential to cause brain injury during critical periods of brain development. Her current research aims to investigate ways to prevent neurotoxicity of these classes of medications in infants and children. Her second research focus entails adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy agents on the developing central nervous system. She has authored over 140 peer reviewed publications and book chapters and serves on several editorial boards of scientific journals.

COI: Receives funding from Solvay Stocks, no other conflict to disclose

Learning Objectives:
• Review severe presentations of PANDAS/PANS in children
• Review treatments and therapeutic responses in severe cases of PANDAS/PANS

Wei Zhao, MD, PhD
Professor and Chief, Division of Allergy and Immunology Virginia Commonwealth University
Plasmapheresis in Treatment of PANS
2:30 pm – 3:15 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Wei Zhao: Dr. Wei Zhao received his medical degree from Wenzhou Medical University in China. He received his PhD in Immunology from West Virginia University. He then completed his pediatric residency in West Virginia University and his fellowship in Allergy and Immunology in Virginia Commonwealth University. He has been on faculty with VCU since 2003. Currently he is a professor in Pediatrics and division Chief of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Zhao is board certified in American Board of Pediatrics and American Board of Allergy and Immunology. He is also member of American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. He served as the president of Allergy and Asthma Society of Virginia from 2012-2014. He has been named as Top-Doctor since 2012 by Richmond Magazine. His research interest has been human mast cells and their role in allergic and immunologic disorders. He has been the principal investigator of NIH sponsored projects and key member of asthma and allergic disease center in VCU.

Learning Objectives:
• Discuss the role of plasma pheresis in management of PANS and PANDAS.
• Summarize the result and outcome of patients receiving plasma pheresis in our institution.

Dritan Agalliu, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology in Neurology Columbia University
The Role of the Adaptive Immunity and Genetic Risk Factors in Vascular and Neuronal Dysfunction in Post-Infectious Autoimmune Encephalitis
3:15 – 3:45 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Dritan Agalliu: Research in Dr. Agalliu’s laboratory is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate formation of the blood-brain barrier in the central nervous system (CNS) using genetic approaches in mice and the mechanisms of barrier breakdown in a variety of CNS diseases such as stroke and autoimmune diseases having symptoms that include bloodbrain barrier failure, using genetic, molecular, cellular and imaging approaches. We have developed novel mouse strains that allow us to visualize changes in structural components of the blood-brain barrier, namely tight junctions and caveolae, in living animals for several CNS diseases (e.g. stroke and multiple sclerosis) in order to understand the cellular mechanisms underlying barrier impairment in these neurological disorders. In addition, we are investigating the role of Wnt/b-catenin signaling in development of the CNS vasculature and formation of the blood-brain barrier, and we are exploring the role of this pathway in repairing the barrier in diseases where its function is compromised (e.g. stroke and autoimmune disorders). Finally, we are investigating the mechanisms of immune cells entry into the CNS in a novel animal model for a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by multiple Streptococcus pyogenes infections, in order to understand how immune cells induce neurovascular, synaptic and behavioral deficits in the brain.

Learning Objectives:
• Describe what causes Autoimmune Encephalitis, Post-Infectious Autoimmune Encephalitis and what are the immune mechanisms that induce the disease.
• Identify how Th17 lymphocytes induce blood-brain barrier damage, neuroinflammation and cause neuronal impairment in animal models for post-infectious basal ganglia encephalitis.
• Describe which potential cytokines are present in sera from PANDAS/PANS patients and their effect on the blood-brain barrier in vitro.
• Understand how are genetic risk factors identified in PANDAS/PANS that predispose the children to develop the disease and discuss the main outcome of these studies.

15 min break

Jill Hollenbach, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Immunogenetic Variation in PANS and Neuroinflammatory Disease
4:00 – 4:30 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Jill Hollenbach: Jill Hollenbach is Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. She was raised in California and completed her undergraduate studies in Physiology and Master’s degree in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. After several years working in public health in the Caribbean and Bay Area, she returned to UC Berkeley for her doctoral studies in Immunology, with an emphasis on population genetics of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system. Throughout her career Dr. Hollenbach’s work has continued to focus on the HLA loci and related systems such as the killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes in disease association, transplantation and evolutionary studies. She has also been deeply involved in the establishment of community standards and software development for immunogenetic data management and analysis and is a Councilor of the International HLA and Immunogenetics Council and Associate Editor for disease association studies at HLA Journal. Dr. Hollenbach’s laboratory at UCSF applies study of these complex systems to advance efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of underlying immune dysregulation in neurological, autoimmune, and infectious disease.

Learning objectives:
• Understand the nature of variation in HLA and KIR, polymorphic genes encoding immune receptors.
• Understand the role that immunogenetic variation plays in neuroinflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis, and implications for ongoing research in PANS.

Chris Pittenger, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry in Yale Child Study Center
Antibodies in Children With PANDAS Bind To And Inhibit Specific Interneurons In The Basal Ganglia
4:30 – 5:00 pm, CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Chris Pittenger: Dr. Chris Pittenger earned his MD and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University where his graduate work was done with Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He join the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and is now a tenured Professor and Assistant Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry.

Learning objectives:
• To appreciate recent data suggesting that antibodies from children with PANDAS can bind to and inhibit specific interneurons in the basal ganglia
• To appreciate how dysregulation of interneurons in the basal ganglia may contribute to the development of symptoms in PANDAS

Cynthia Kapphahn, MD, MPH
Medical Director, Eating Disorders Program Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford Clinical Professor, Division of Adolescent Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine
Disordered Eating in PANS
5:00 – 5:20 pm CST
Maximum of 0.33 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Cynthia Kapphahn: Dr. Kapphahn is a Clinical Professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is Medical Director of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford’s, Eating Disorders Program, which specializes in the treatment of adolescents and young adults with eating disorders. She completed medical training at Yale Medical School, a pediatric residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and an adolescent medicine fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. She received a master’s degree in Public Health and Policy from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to her clinical and administrative responsibilities, she is involved in research regarding eating disorders, medical complications, and care outcomes, and has a special interest in Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). She is a member of the National Eating Disorders Quality Improvement Research Collaborative, and has served as Chairman of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine’s Eating Disorder Clinical Committee.

Learning Objectives:
• Recognize that eating restriction is common in PANS/PANDAS
• Identify the common reasons children and adolescents with PAN/PANDAS restrict intake
List four factors associated with increased risk of medical instability from restricted intake in PANS/PANDAS the approach to managing eating issues in children and adolescents with PANS/PANDAS

Elizabeth Mellins, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatric Rheumatologist and Molecular Immunologist Stanford University School of Medicine
Monocyte Research in PANS
5:20 pm – 545 pm CST
Maximum of 0.42 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Elizabeth Mellins: Dr. Elizabeth Mellins is a Pediatric Rheumatologist and a Molecular Immunologist at Stanford University School of Medicine. She has focused her career on laboratory-based research on normal and disease-causing immune responses, including those in PANS. She received her MD degree at Harvard Medical School and completed a Pediatric residency at the University of Colorado and the University of Washington. She did a fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology followed by a research fellowship in Immunology, both at the University of Washington. She holds board certifications in General Pediatrics and Pediatric Rheumatology. After being an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, she moved to Stanford, where she is now a full Professor. She has served on the NIH Cellular and Molecular Immunology study section and has received research funding from the NIH, the Arthritis Foundation and other foundations, and several pharmaceutical companies. She has authored over 165 peer-reviewed publications and is an editor of the premier textbook in Pediatric Rheumatology. She was the founder and first Chairperson of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance, an organization that now includes almost all Pediatric Rheumatology Divisions in the US and Canada. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists. Dr. Mellins is committed to training young investigators and has received several mentoring awards.

Learning Objectives:
• To be aware of the heterogeneity of human monocytes, particularly during chronic inflammation
• To become familiar with the monocyte subsets associated with PANS
• To appreciate the differences in monocyte subset frequencies in different PANS clinical subgroups

Erin Masterson, PhD MPH
Epidemiologist, University of Washington, School of Public Health
Preliminary Findings from the International PANS Registry Epidemiology Study
5:45pm – 6:00 pm CST
Maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Erin Masterson: Erin E. Masterson, PhD, MPH is an Epidemiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has partnered with the Pediatric Research & Advocacy Initiative (PRAI) since 2018 to develop and launch the International PANS Registry (IPR). Today she continues to work alongside PRAI to manage and analyze the IPR data. In general, Erin’s research focuses on the developmental origins and social determinants of health. Specifically, she is working on developing methods that will allow teeth (through developmental defects in the enamel) to be used as biomarkers of early life exposures and a potential clinical screening tool for predicting health risk throughout the life course.

Learning Objectives:
• To understand how case definitions for PANS and PANDAS are applied in Epidemiology Study of the International PANS Registry data
• To describe the analytic approach and publication plans of the IPR Epidemiology Study Team

This concludes the CME portion for May 13.

Closing presentation requires separate Zoom sign on to watch and is not part of the CME accredited event. To view: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8375569334

Carlos Bustamante, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Data Science, Genetics, and Biology Stanford University
Vision for an International Research Collaboration to Study Neuroimmune Disorders
640 pm CST – Closing

Biography for Carlos Bustamante: Dr. Carlos D. Bustamante is an internationally recognized leader in the application of data science and genomics technology to problems in medicine, agriculture, and biology. He received his Ph.D. in Biology and MS in Statistics from Harvard University (2001), was on the faculty at Cornell University (2002-9), and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. He is currently Professor of Biomedical Data Science, Genetics, and (by courtesy) Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Bustamante has a passion for building new academic units, non-profits, and companies to solve pressing scientific challenges. He is Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics (CEHG) and Inaugural Chair of the Department of Biomedical Data Science. He is the Owner and President of CDB Consulting, LTD. and also a Director at EdenRoc Sciences, LLC, founder of Arc Bio LLC (formerly IdentifyGenomics LLC and BigData Bio LLC), and an SAB member of Imprimed, Etalon DX, Columbia Care, and Digitalis Ventures.

May 14, 2021 11:00 am CST – 3:30 pm CST
Day Two: Clinical Pearls & Practical Advice in Treating Inflammatory Neuropsychiatry Diseases

Andrew Baumel, MD
Pediatrician, Framingham Pediatrics
A Pediatrician’s Perspective on Treating Mild to Moderate PANS
11:00-11:20 am CST
Maximum of 0.33 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Andrew Baumel: Dr. Baumel is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His pediatric internship and residency were done at Childrens’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Baumel joined Framingham Pediatrics in July 1995. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics. Dr. Baumel is affiliated with Metrowest Medical Center – Framingham Union Hospital.

Learning Objectives:
• Enable the learner to recognize the common presenting symptoms of PANS/PANDAS in your pediatric patient panel.
• Learn about two readily available treatments that are highly effective in reducing the symptoms of children with mild to moderate P/P.
• Understand which patients can be treated by a general pediatrician without referral to a specialist

Ruy Carrasco, MD
Rheumatology, Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) at Presbyterian Healthcare Services
Clinical Work up and Treatment of Rheumatological Diseases That Have Psychiatric Co- Morbidities
11:20-11:50 am CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Ruy Carrasco: Healthcare Executive with over 15 years experience in nationally recognized rheumatology programs for superior patient care, research and patient satisfaction; leadership in strategic planning, development and transformation of clinical services, information technology, risk management, compliance, revenue cycle improvement, quality initiatives: clinical (ambulatory & acute settings for adult & pediatric service lines), commercial & governmental programs (PQRS, MACRA, MU), policy development and audits (CHAN, ONC, RAC).

Learning Objectives:
• Correlate the importance and priority of the history and physical exam over laboratory and imaging studies.
• Develop a differential diagnosis based on the history and physical exam
• Discriminate and verify the utility of laboratory options in the evaluation of a child with concerns for PANS/PANDAS.

Short break 10 min

Theresa Willett, MD, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Immunology, Allergy Medical Director, SCH Immune Behavioral Health Clinic Stanford University School of Medicine
Clues from the Clinical Exam
12:00 pm-1:00 pm CST
Maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)

Biography for Dr. Theresa Willett: Dr. Willett is a general pediatrician and current medical director of the Stanford PANS/Immune Behavioral Health Clinic. She pursued her MD-PhD at Tufts in Boston, where she completed her thesis work on t-cell mediated autoimmunity in treatment resistant Lyme arthritis, and antigenic mimicry in OspA. She then trained and worked as a primary care pediatrician. After returning to California, she found her cross-specialized people in the Stanford PANS clinic.

Learning Objectives:
• Utilize exam findings to support PANS/PANDAS diagnosis or support alternative diagnoses
• Recognize choreiform movements vs chorea
• Identify skin findings for alternative diagnosis (rheumatic fever) and comorbidity (psoriasis)
• Identify findings on joint exam that indicate need for rheumatology evaluation

Short break 15 min

Hayley Gans, MD
Clinical Professor, Pediatrics—Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine
The Link Between Infectious Diseases and Neuroimmune Disorders
1:15-1:45 pm CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Hayley Gans: Hayley Gans is a Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University Medical Center. She spends her clinical time on the Pediatric Infectious Diseases service, and Co-directs the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Program for Immunocompromised Hosts. She is also the Director of Fellowship Education for the Department of Pediatrics and the Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Program. The focus of her research has involved investigations into the innate and adaptive immunity to viral vaccines in several different populations. Initial studies included infants receiving an early measles vaccination regimen which then expanded to include preterm infants, HIV infected adults and children, and children and adults undergoing liver and renal transplantation. In addition, studies also included an expanded repertoire of viral antigens, such as CMV, poliovirus, varicella and mumps. Recently, she has expanded her research to address viral infections in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. Additional research efforts are directed at bioinformatics in the immunocompromised cohorts and outcome measures in ambulatory pediatrics, as well as studies in the arena of medical education.

Learning Objectives:
• Describe the association between infectious disease triggers and neuroimmune outcomes
• Discuss the pathophysiology proposed as the mechanism for the neuroimmune symptoms following infections
• Manage the infectious diseases workup for children presenting with neuroimmune symptoms

Short break 15 min

Margo Thienemann, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Stanford University School of Medicine
Psychiatric Medication Management in Inflammatory Psychiatric Disease With a Focus on PANS
2:00-2:30 pm CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Margo Thienemann: Margo Thienemann, MD is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. Thienemann is the lead psychiatrist of the Packard Children’s PANS clinic, the first in the country exclusively devoted to PANS. She developed an interest in PANS after directing the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Clinic at Stanford in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Thienemann has enjoyed, over the course of her career, watching the field of psychiatry search more and more into the biological underpinnings of mental health disorders in hopes that we can address their causes, in addition to their symptoms.

Learning Objectives:
• Participants will appreciate indications for psychiatric medication treatment in children and adolescents with inflammatory brain disorders.
• Participants will appreciate the level of evidence currently available for psychiatric medication treatment in children and adolescents with inflammatory brain disorders.
• Participants will appreciate possible psychiatric medication treatment in children and adolescents with inflammatory brain disorders.

Cynthia Wang, MD
Pediatric Neurologist, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis
2:30-3:00 pm CST
Maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™

Biography for Dr. Cynthia Wang: Dr. Cynthia Wang received her medical degree from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas and completed a pediatric neurology residency at Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Wang was awarded the James T. Lubin Clinician-Scientist Award from the Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association which allowed her to complete a neuroimmunology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Health. Her clinical and research interests include acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, pediatric multiple sclerosis, autoimmune encephalitis, and post-infectious encephalopathies. She directs the Autoimmune Encephalitis at Children’s Health in Dallas.

Learning Objectives:
• Recognize key elements of the clinical history, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment methodology for pediatric demyelinating and autoimmune brain disorders.
• Understand the approach to the long-term management of neuropsychiatric sequelae of autoimmune brain conditions including cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, and mood disorders.
• Review current research and treatment approaches to pediatric seronegative autoimmune encephalitis and immune-mediated encephalopathies.

Q&A Panel with aforementioned speakers
3:00-3:30 pm CST

Activity Director: Anna Conkey has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Planning committee member: Dr. Pierre Kory has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

We are very grateful to the sponsors of this event who provided generous educational support including: CharmHealth (Platinum Sponsor)
Brain Foundation
University of Wisconsin
Unity Point Health
Quartz
Meriter
GroupHealth Cooperative of South-Central Wisconsin
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University
Marshfield Clinic Health System

Outcome Objectives
1.)Accurately diagnose inflammatory brain conditions including PANS, autoimmune encephalitis, and infectious encephalitis.
2.)Describe the association between anti-neural autoantibodies and neuropsychiatric dysfunction in pediatric COVID-19 patients.
3.)Identify the metabolic abnormalities leading to the symptomatology and pathology associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
4.)Describe what causes Autoimmune Encephalitis, Post-Infectious Autoimmune Encephalitis and what are the immune mechanisms that induce the disease.
5.)Distinguish autoimmune psychosis versus idiopathic psychosis.
6.)Describe the heterogeneity of human monocytes, particularly during chronic inflammation.

Accreditation / Credit Designation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and Foundation For Children With Neuroimmune Disorders. The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson designates this live activity for a maximum of 11 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement

All Faculty, CME Planning Committee Members, and the CME Office Reviewers have disclosed that they do not have any relevant financial relationships with commercial interests that could constitute a conflict of interest concerning this CME activity

Conference Registration

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsor!

Sponsors