DR JOCELYN LEBLANC

Dr Jocelyn LeBlanc earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard Medical School where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michela Fagiolini. Jocelyn then made the unusual shift from working with Rett mice to working with children with Rett Syndrome at Boston Children’s Hospital.

After moving to the UK with her own family, Jocelyn worked for the umbrella medical research organisation, the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) for 5 years where she was responsible for overseeing the collection, analysis and publication of sector data to demonstrate the scale of charity investment in medical research and highlight the impact of this research on people and society

Last November Jocelyn became the Research Impact Lead at Diabetes UK.

Jocelyn said “I was deeply impacted by my time spent with children with Rett Syndrome and their families while doing my postdoctoral research. I’m thrilled to join Reverse Rett as a trustee to contribute to this mission that is close to my heart and support in any way that I can ”

“We are delighted that Jocelyn has decided to become a Trustee of Reverse Rett” said John Sharpe, Chair of Trustees, “As we move into a new phase of advocacy for regulatory approval of developing treatments, the knowledge Jocelyn gained at the AMRC will bring essential and unique experience to the Board to help us in our work.”

Welcome to the board, Mike and Jocelyn Thank you for your commitment to Reverse Rett. We are all looking forward to working with you.

On Valentine's Day, we posted the following on facebook, asking families to share pictures of their much loved family member with Rett.

Here is the post and the pictures that came back to us: 'One of the most difficult things about loving someone with Rett Syndrome is that other people often don’t understand that we love them just the same as anyone else loves their child; fiercely, full of pride and without reservation

Whether it’s the passer by with their sympathetic glance, the concerned friend, ‘I don’t know how you do it,’ or the doctor in the hospital asking you if you want to sign a DNR, it can be difficult to convey how much they are loved, not only how much they are loved but the quality of that love. As our children have taught us, some things are better expressed without words