Study Shows that United States and other Countries Can Do More to Improve Quality of Life for People with Down Syndrome
The U.S. ranked 13th of 45 countries in advocating for and supporting these individuals’ wellbeing.
About Brian Skotko, MD, MPP
A Board-certified medical geneticist, Dr. Skotko is the Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital. As the Director of the hospital's Down Syndrome Program, he has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and development disabilities. He co-authored the national award-winning books, Common Threads: Celebrating Life with Down Syndrome and Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters. He is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Kennedy School, and he is currently a Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Skotko is a leader on clinical and translational research about Down syndrome. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, NPR's "On Point," and ABC's "Good Morning America." Dr. Skotko has a sister with Down syndrome and serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
Departments, Centers, & Programs:
Clinical Interests:
- Developmental delays
- Down syndrome
- Genetic Testing
- Genetics
- intellectual disabilities in children
- Medical Genetics
- Trisomy 21
Treats:
- Adult & Pediatrics
Locations
Mass General for Children: Genetics Program
55 Fruit St.
Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care
Suite 6C
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-1561
Medical Education
- MD, Harvard Medical School
- Fellowship, Boston Children's Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Clinical Genetics and Genomics, American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid NY
- Medicaid RI
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
A Board-certified medical geneticist, Dr. Skotko is the Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital. As the Director of the hospital’s Down Syndrome Program, he has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and development disabilities. He co-authored the national award-winning books, Common Threads: Celebrating Life with Down Syndrome and Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters. He is a graduate of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Kennedy School, and he is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Skotko is a leader on clinical and translational research about Down syndrome. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, NPR’s “On Point,” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Dr. Skotko has a sister with Down syndrome and serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
Publications
-
Select Publications:
- Skotko, B. (2005). Prenatally diagnosed Down syndrome: Mothers who continued their pregnancies evaluate their health care providers. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 192: 67P77
- Skotko, B.G., Levine, S.P., Goldstein, R. (2011). Having a Son or Daughter with Down Syndrome: Perspectives from Mothers and Fathers. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A 155:2335-2347.
- Skotko, B.G., Levine, S.P., Goldstein, R. (2011). Having a Brother or Sister with Down Syndrome: Perspectives from Siblings. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A: 155:2348-2359.
- Skotko, B.G., Levine, S.P., Goldstein, R. (2011). Self-perceptions from People with Down Syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A: 155:2360-2369.
- Lavigne J, Sharr C, Elsharkawi I, Ozonoff A, Baumer N, Brasington C, Cannon S, Crissman B, Davidson E, Florez JC, Kishnani P, Lombardo A, Lyerly J, McDonough ME, Schwartz A, Berrier K, Sparks S, Stock-Guild K, Toler T, Vellody K, Voelz L, Skotko B. (2017). Thyroid dysfunction in patients with Down syndrome: Results from a multi-institutional registry study. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 173A:1539-1545.
- Elsharkawi I, Gozal D, Macklin EA, Voelz L, Weintraub G, Skotko BG. (2017). Urinary biomarkers and obstructive sleep apnea in patients with Down syndrome. Sleep Medicine, 34:84-89.