Welcome to the CaTS Research Project

CaTS is a large-scale initiative involving researchers from across Canada. It is a collaborative project aimed at advancing our knowledge in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). Our growing group includes experts in epidemiology, immunology, neuropsychology, genetics, and neuroimaging. This is coupled with clinical expertise in adult and pediatric neurology, epilepsy, and nephrology.

TSC is a genetic disorder affecting approximately 1 in 6000 born in Canada, as well as around the world. TSC is a multisystemic disorder, characterized by the development of benign tumours (i.e., non-cancerous) affecting multiple organs, including the heart, kidneys, lungs, skin, and especially the brain.

People with TSC may be neurotypical. Others may have intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. Together with other neuropsychiatric manifestations, these are referred to as TAND. People with TSC may also have disabling epileptic seizures.

It is unclear why some people with TSC have severe disease, and others have a very mild form. We aim with our research to shed light on why this may be the case. We are interested in predicting who will develop severe TSC and those who may not. We are interested in predicting and understanding why some people will respond well to treatment, while others less so.