Discovery Evenings

Kandi Pickard provides vision and leadership at NDSS, working collaboratively with individuals and organizations to support the entire Down syndrome community. She holds a degree in business administration and brings two decades of experience in operations and effective administration management. Kandi’s involvement in the Down syndrome community began as a local volunteer and advocate after her youngest son, Mason was born with Down syndrome. Thirteen years later, she leads NDSS with a focus on building community and keeping individuals with Down syndrome at the center of everything the organization does. Her vision includes expanding resources, programs, and support from birth through adulthood, with a special focus on caregiving, public health, and supporting aging adults.

Dr. Sigan Hartley’s research takes a biopsychosocial approach to understand the mechanisms that shape development in individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions, including Down syndrome, autism, and fragile x syndrome. Her work spans a range of methodologies and reflects extensive collaboration across multi-site and interdisciplinary teams.A central focus of her research is Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome, who are at increased risk due to trisomy 21. Her work seeks to understand early disease progression and identify modifiable environmental and lifestyle factors, such as sleep, physical activity, employment, and social engagement, that may influence outcomes. She also studies co-occurring mental health conditions and the risk and resiliency factors that can inform effective interventions.

Dr. Brian Chicoine is Medical Director of the Adult Down Syndrome Center at Advocate Medical Group and serves on the faculty of the Family Medicine residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. He earned his medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and completed his residency at Lutheran General Hospital.In 1992, Dr. Chicoine co-founded the Adult Down Syndrome Center, which has served more than 6,000 adolescents and adults with Down syndrome. With over 35 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to advancing care for adults with intellectual disabilities and has written and presented extensively on the health and psychosocial needs of individuals with Down syndrome.He is a clinical leader for NDSS’s CARE (Clinical Awareness, Resources, and Education) Down Syndrome initiative, contributing to the development of its evidence-based resources for healthcare professionals.

Madison Essig is one of six self-advocates with Down syndrome on the NDSS team, where she provides operational support to the CEO and collaborates across departments. She is a passionate advocate for inclusive education, disability rights, and community acceptance, and is a frequent speaker on the abilities of individuals with Down syndrome.Madison earned her B.A. in Social Justice and Human Rights from George Mason University, where she received a Community Engagement Medallion and became the first student with Down syndrome elected as a student senator.

Dr. William Mobley is Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. He serves as Executive Director of UC San Diego's Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment. He is Founding Director of the Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion and holds the Denny Sanford Chair in Empathy and Compassion. He came to UC San Diego in 2009 from Stanford University, where he served as the John E. Cahill Family Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and was Founding Director of the Neuroscience Institute.Dr. Mobley’s research is focused on degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, especially Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. He and his colleagues have, for many years, explored the hypothesis that deficient axonal transport of neurotrophic factor signals contributes importantly to the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration. In recent years, he has joined studies examining the neurobiological basis for empathy and compassion and how these attributes of brain function can be enhanced to support the education and wellbeing of medical students and medical faculty.Dr. Mobley is Past President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology, the Professors of Child Neurology, and the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He received both the Zenith Award and Temple Award from the Alzheimer's Association and the Cotzias Award from the American Academy of Neurology. In 2007, he received the Christian Pueschel Memorial Research Award, and in 2011 was honored with the International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune Prize by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation for his research contributions to Down syndrome and genetic intellectual disabilities. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2014. He served as President of the Trisomy 21 Research Society (2022–2023) and is Chair of the Science and Clinical Advisory Committee of the National Down Syndrome Society. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Health Sciences from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2025, he was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society.