Fragile X syndrome
Disease Information
Research & Innovation
The Fragile X Program at Children’s Hospital Boston is committed to research aimed at understanding and treating fragile X.
Program director Jonathan D. Picker, MD, PhD, is also the chairman of the Clinical and Professional Development Committee of the National X Fragile Clinical Research Consortium as well as a member of the steering committee charged with guiding the direction of national policy on care and research directions. As part of the consortium, our Fragile X Program works to coordinate research from across the nation and around the world, orchestrating projects that allow us to approach fragile X from complementary angles.
Historically, fragile X has been a challenging topic for researchers, since its causes are located primarily in the brain. Among our current projects is a study on the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on fragile X. This is a non-invasive protocol aimed at:
- providing confirmation that certain drugs really are helping people with fragile X
- helping us understand exactly how fragile X affects learning and memory. With this knowledge, we hope to design more effective drugs or behavioral modification therapy.
Children’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) is one of 20 research centers around the country dedicated to the study of intellectual disability and developmental disabilities, with the goal of translating basic research into improved care approaches. Our scientists are conducting genetic, molecular, behavioral and biobehavioral researchon fragile X and other developmental disabilities.
For more information, please see our Fragile X Program page.
