Randi and Paul Hagerman

Randi Jenssen Hagerman, MD is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and the Tsakopoulos-Vismara professor of Pediatrics at the University of California at Davis, Medical Center. Dr. Hagerman is the Director of the MIND Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopment Disorders) at UC Davis and has become internationally known as a Fragile X clinician and researcher. As the Director of the MIND Institute, Dr. Hagerman is at the helm of one of the country's primary clinics for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of neurodevelopment disorders including Autism, Asperger's and Fragile X. Her husband, Paul, joined UC Davis in the Department of Biological Chemistry and as an associate researcher with the M.I.N.D. Institute.

A founding CFXF Scientific Advisor, Dr. Hagerman has been quoted previously in this newsletter as having told the U.S. Congress that "Fragile X is a 'research portal' for other brain disorders. It is the leading-edge candidate for a breakthrough in understanding many other diseases, especially autism". This fact of Fragile X as a 'portal' is most attractive to researchers such as Dr. Hagerman who recognize its potential to unlock the mystery of disorders that affect millions of people around the world. Dr. Hagerman has spent over 20 years on Fragile clinical work and research, particularly in molecular clinical correlation and treatment endeavors. Dr. Hagerman is the chairman of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Committee of the National Fragile X Foundation and is a scientific reviewer for the FRAXA Foundation. The third edition of Dr. Hagerman's book, Fragile X Syndrome: Diagnosis, Treatment and Research, will be published in 2002 by the Johns Hopkins University Press.