Join Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network

An impact driven membership program designed to empower patients and families by providing access to high quality content designed for clinicians
Neuroimmune Empowerment Network gives patients and families resources to advocate for themselves and their loved ones! Following payment, please expect to receive an email with login information within five business days.

About the Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network

The Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network is an impact driven membership program designed to empower patients and families by providing access to high quality content designed for for researchers and clinicians treating patients with complex conditions including PANS, inflammatory brain disorders, encephalitis, and immune-mediated neuropsychiatric deteriorations, including those occurring in patients with autism.

Though designed for clinicians, we recognize many patients and families seek access to high quality content designed for clinicians so that they can best advocate for themselves and their loved ones, so we created the Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network for patients and families.

Neuroimmune Impact Circle members are dedicated core members of the neuroimmune community who receive exclusive benefits, including access to:

  • Live Q&As with highly regarded experts in the field
  • Exclusive access to premium content, including recordings from CME events
  • Steep discounts for CME events, including the Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference
  • Priority registration to events
  • Quarterly compilation of relevant new research
  • Quarterly opportunities to provide feedback that will guide Impact Circle activities

Neuroimmune Impact Circle revenue supports our mission to scale educational outreach to clinicians worldwide, offering free and affordable accredited Continuing Medical Education, and developing and supporting capacity-building initiatives to expand patient access to care.

Impact Circle – Neuroimmune Empowerment Network aims to:

  • Keep members apprised of the latest research, treatment, and clinical advances so they can best advocate for themselves and their family members.
  • Create a sense of community amongst members.

Patients, families, and interested community members are welcome to join The Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network. The majority of the content available will be or has previously been accredited for live CME events with physician CME requirements in mind. Patients and families new to these conditions may wish to access the resources at Neuroimmune Foundation.

  • For a limited time, membership in Impact Circle: Neuroimmune Empowerment Network as a founding member is $12 per month.
  • Annual Impact Circle subscriptions are billed monthly, with an initial commitment of one year. Ongoing monthly charges will occur until you cancel them. You may cancel at any time after the first year.
  • Allowing friends/family/colleagues to access one’s membership account or any online meeting links will result in revocation of membership without refund.
  • While an Impact Circle subscription entitles you to view or listen to certain webinars or meetings, it does not guarantee that your question will be asked. In all cases, the opinions expressed by the expert hosts should not be interpreted as medical advice, but rather simply reflect the experience of these expert clinicians in treating similar cases or encountering similar situations in the past. Each patient’s case is unique and the expert hosts do not have the ability to examine the patient nor confirm the accuracy of the clinical information, thus cannot and will not make specific treatment recommendations on any patient’s case but instead provide more general information based upon clinical experience.
  • Any type of bullying or harassment will not be tolerated under any circumstances and will lead to immediate revocation of one’s subscription.
  • We value your thoughts and contributions and will periodically ask for your feedback on our initiatives and how we can best serve our community.
  • By submitting your first payment and agreeing to an account, you are agreeing to these terms. There are no refunds. If your card fails, you will receive an email from Stripe notifying you of this and you’ll be able to enter a new card. If you do not update your payment within two weeks from the failure, there will be an additional $25 service charge.
  • If your subscription payment fails, your membership will be revoked on the third business day following lack of payment and you will be un-registered for upcoming events. If your payment is failing due to your bank not allowing payment, we can reinstate your membership with a one year full payment.

Upcoming Live Events For Impact Circle Members

These live Q&As are open to Impact Circle members only. There is no fee for Impact Circle members to attend but registration is required.

Mark Pasternack, MD
(click photo for biography)

Q&A  – November 5, 2024

4:00 pm PT, 7:00 ET

QA focus: Infections in PANS/PANDAS

Jennifer Frankovich, MD
(click photo for biography)

Q&A – December 3, 2024

4:00 pm PT, 7:00 ET

QA focus: PANS, autoimmune and immune conditions

Shannon Delaney, MD
(click photo for biography)

Q&A – December 12, 2024

4:00 pm PT, 7:00 ET

QA focus: PANS/PANDAS, Lyme, Tick-borne Illnesses

Jennifer Frankovich, MD
(click photo for biography)

Q&A – February 4, 2025

4:00 pm PT, 7:00 ET

QA focus: PANS, autoimmune and immune conditions

  • Questions are compiled 24 hours prior to each Q&A though you may submit questions via the Zoom Q&A button during the event (priority is given to questions submitted at the time of registration via Zoom).
  • Please note that panelists cannot give medical advice. By participating you agree you understand you are not receiving medical advice but rather insight as to how patients in their cohort have responded to various treatments.
  • Please do not ask patient specific questions.

Inflamma­tory Brain Disorders Conference 2024

Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference 2025

Impact Circle Members: discounted registration is not yet opened, however, all individuals who become members by November 13, 2024 will be eligible for discounted conference registration.

Discounted registration is not yet open. You will receive an email when it opens and will have one month to register for the conference at that point. Please note that if you do not remain up to date on your payments and there is a lapse in payment at any point prior to the conference, you will no longer be eligible for discounted registration.

Recordings currently available (updated quarterly)

Single Lectures
Dr. Belinda Lennox

Belinda Lennox, DM, FRCPsych

Professor and Head of Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Immunotherapy in Autoimmune Psychiatric Illness
Dr. Ming Lim

Ming Lim, MD, PhD

Professor, Paediatric Neurology, King’s College London, HOS Children’s Neuroscience, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Children’s Neuroscience Centre, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, King’s Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre

Atypical Presentations of Autoimmune Encephalitis
Karen Parker PhD photo

Karen Parker, PhD (Keynote)

Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Principal Investigator, Social Neurosciences Research Program; Chair, Psychiatry Major Laboratories Steering Committee; Associate Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine

Vasopressin: A Robust Biomarker and Promising Therapeutic for Autism
Harland Winter MD photo

Harland Winter, MD

Director, Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

The Role of the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Microbiome in Individuals Who Are on the Autism Spectrum
Dr. Douglas Wallace

Douglas Wallace, MD, PhD

Michael and Charles Barnett Endowed Chair in Pediatric Mitochondrial Medicine and Metabolic Disease; Director, Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Human Genetics Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

A Mitochondrial Etiology of Autism and Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Dr. Terry Harville

Terry Harville, MD, PhD

Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Services, and Internal Medicine; Medical Director, HLA and Histocompatibility Laboratory; Medical Director, Immunogenetics and Transplantation Laboratory; Medical Director UAMS ABG Laboratory, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Case Presentations of the Spectrum of ASD
Dr. Gaitanis

John Gaitanis, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Clinician Educator, Brown University; Director of Child Neurology, Brown Medical School; Pediatric Neurologist, Hasbro Children’s Hospital

Autism, Epilepsy, and Aggression
Doctor Mark Pasternak.

Mark Pasternack, MD

Chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital Associate
Professor of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard

November 2024 Q&A
Doctor Richard Frye

Richard Frye, MD, PhD

President and Chief Scientific Officer, Autism Discovery and Treatment Foundation; Director of Research, Rossignol Medical Center; Sponsor and Principal Investigator, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

July 2024 Q&A
Doctor Richard Frye

Richard Frye, MD, PhD

President and Chief Scientific Officer, Autism Discovery and Treatment Foundation; Director of Research, Rossignol Medical Center; Sponsor and Principal Investigator, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center

Neurodevelopmental Regression: Causes, Workup, and Treatment
Ritika Kapoor

Ritika Kapoor, MBBS, PhD, FRCPCH

Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist and Honorary Reader, King’s College Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust & King’s College, London

Neurobehavioural Impairments in Disorders of The Hypothalamo-Pituitary Axis
Dr. Ben Marlow

Ben Marlow, MBBS, MRCPCH, PGCME

Consultant Paediatrician (Neurodevelopment) ESNEFT; Clinical Director – The Synapse Centre for Neurodevelopment; Clinical Lead for Paediatrics SNEE ICB; Visiting Senior Lecturer Anglia Ruskin School of Medicine

Sleep Difficulties in Autism: Investigation and Management Strategies
Dr. Andrew Zimmerman

Andrew Zimmerman, MD

Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology (Retired), UMass Memorial Medical Center

Clinical Trials of Sulforaphane (SF) in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Efficacy and Biomarkers
Doctor Emily Severance

Emily Severance, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Inflammation and The Gut-Brain Axis in Autism – Research Strides Point to Dietary Interventions
Dr. John Lukens

John Lukens, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia

Role of Maternal Immune Activation and Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Autism-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dr. Melody Lun

Melody Lun, MD, PhD

Clinical Fellow, Neonatology; Postdoctoral Fellow, Pleasure-Wilson Labs, University of California – San Fransisco

Novel Autoantibody Discovery in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Doctor Naveen Nagarajan.

Naveen Nagarajan, PhD

Postdoctoral Associate, Dr. Mario Capecchi Lab, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah

Calcium Transients in Microglia Drive ASD/OCD-Like Repetitive and Anxiety Behaviors
Dr. Needham

Brittany Needham, PhD

Assistant Professor, Indiana School of Medicine

Modulation of the Gut Microbiome in ASD
Lectures with multiple speakers

Infection and Inflammation Related Neuropsychiatric Deteriorations in Youth with Autism: Case Presentations by The Stanford Immune Behavioral Health Team

Doctor Jennifer Frankovich

Jennifer Frankovich, MD, MS

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Stanford University School of Medicine; Director, Stanford PANS Research Program

Doctor Meiqian Ma.

Meiqian Ma, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Rheumatology Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Melissa Silverman photo

Melissa Silverman, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences – Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development, Stanford University School of Medicine

Bahare Farhadian FNP

Bahare Farhadian, MSN, RN, FNP-C

Rheumatology – Family Nurse Practitioner, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health

Research Spotlight

Spotlighting recently published neuroimmunology research

  • Naproxen Adjunct to Fluoxetine for Moderate-to-severe Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

    Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences / Wiley
    October 1, 2024

  • IVIG Response in Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Correlates with Reduction in Pro-inflammatory Monocytes and Neuropsychiatric Measures

    Frontiers in Immunology
    October 3, 2024

  • Strep Throat and the Backstory for PANS and PANDAS

    JAMA Network
    July 30, 2024