Wake Forest University receives national recognition for work on Tourette Syndrome

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine was recognized this month as a Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence. 

Dr. Jaclyn Martindale, section head of pediatric neurology at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, said she’d been working toward the recognition for years. 

"I was so excited because honestly since I joined Wake Forest in 2019 this was like one of my biggest desires, was to make Wake Forest known for the clinical care and excellence for tic disorders and Tourette Syndrome," Martindale said. "It’s a really big passion of mine."

Martindale explained the criteria for the "Center of Excellence" designation focuses on three main pillars: research, education and patient care.

She said researchers are holding a medical trial for a medication that could help teenagers manage their tics and a study looking into the stigma around these disorders. 

The school of medicine also works with patients, their families and the community to raise awareness about tic disorders and Tourette Syndrome. 

The last piece of the puzzle is patient care. Though her medical center was already one of the go-to hospitals for neurological care in the region, it wasn’t until recently it started offering a non-medication approach to treatment —comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics. 

While she’s proud of this achievement, Martindale said she plans to continue the work of raising the school’s and hospital’s standards of care and research. 

"But then there was also this moment of ‘Well now what, what do we achieve for next?’ and so we’re currently applying for a grant to educate community providers and then also working with the schools to help do education within the school systems because that’s a really big challenge for a lot of our patients," Martindale said. 

The School of Medicine joins 28 institutions across 15 other states that share the Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence title. 

Santiago Ochoa covers healthcare for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. Follow him on X and Instagram: @santi8a98