This distinction was awarded for her research titled "From early screening to longitudinal follow-up to optimize the outcome for children with neuromuscular diseases." Her work notably focuses on spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic neuromuscular disease. Thanks to therapeutic advances and neonatal screening, children can now be diagnosed and treated before the onset of the first symptoms.
The main objective is to ensure optimal monitoring of these children's development from the first months and in the long term. The SMActive program, developed as part of this research, aims to improve this monitoring through tools that assess motor development within the children's daily environment.
The data collected by these devices will enable healthcare teams to detect potential developmental deviations earlier and adapt follow-up to each child's specific needs. The Professor Christian Coërs Prize will support the continuation of this research and the development of tools beneficial to the affected children, their families, and healthcare professionals.
