Brian Skotko, MD, MPP, a Board-certified medical geneticist and Director of the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Skotko has dedicated his professional energies toward children with cognitive and developmental 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 as 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 serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
Susan Levine, MA, CSW, is a co-founder and social worker at Family Resource Associates, Inc., a private, non-profit agency serving individuals with disabilities and their families in central New Jersey. She earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Bucknell University and a M.A. degree in Child Development and Family Relations from the University of Connecticut. Susan has spent her entire professional career working with children with disabilities and their families. She has conducted support programs for parents and siblings of children with differing abilities for the more than 30 years. Among those programs, Susan has coordinated support groups specifically for parents of children with Down syndrome. She has presented on the needs of siblings at national and regional conferences on Down syndrome, spina bifida, and Rett syndrome, as well as for New Jersey school system parent groups. She also co-authored the book, Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters.