Natalia Szejko, MD, PhD, ScD

Project Title: “A multimodal exploratory study of sex differences in Tourette syndrome”

Women and girls are underrepresented in clinical research on Tourette syndrome (TS), likely due to the lower prevalence of TS in females compared to males. However, tic severity and tic-related impairment are consistently greater in females across different age groups. The mechanisms leading to these sex differences in TS are not well understood.

Dr. Szejko’s research will study these sex differences across different age groups to compare characteristics such as intensity and frequency of tics, changes over time in tic behavior, and differences in patients’ responses to treatments. The results of this study will inform researchers’ understanding of the causes of sex differences in TS and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Szejko is a postdoctoral researcher in child neurology at the University of Calgary, Alberta Children’s Hospital.

This research is funded by the Tourette Association of America and the American Brain Foundation, in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology.