Aleksandra A. Jacobs

The clinical focus is providing care for patients with Rett syndrome. She founded the Tri-State Rett Center at Montefiore in 2008, which provides comprehensive multidisciplinary care to 380 patients with Rett syndrome, and has been awarded a designation of the National Center of Excellence for Rett syndrome in 2021. Dr. Djukic serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. She has published about clinical care and worked with other Rett specialists to develop a better understanding of Rett syndrome and develop better outcome measures and biomarkers that can be used in treatment trials. She was the founder of an international Blue Sky Girls event that raised awareness about Rett syndrome.

Her vision to develop the Rett Syndrome Center at Montefiore originated from the optimism brought by the scientific evidence that several major aspects of the phenotype of the disorder could be fully reversed in an animal model, even in its terminal stages. However, we still do not understand well the full phenotype of the human disease inter-relationship between various symptoms, especially those autonomic and behavioral/cognitive. The main research goals of the Rett Syndrome Center, therefore, entail systematic and uniform documentation of the natural history, development of objective outcome measures, and better treatment strategies. These goals complement our endeavor to implement the best clinical practices in the clinical care of our patients.

Dr. Djukic has a special interest in neuropsychology and how those with Rett syndrome communicate and excel in their education. She was the first to implement effective eye tracking technology as a method of cognitive assessment in patients with Rett syndrome and objective neurophysiological techniques to assess their language processing.  

Her current main research interest is related to the development of more effective therapies for individuals with Rett syndrome. She was the Principal investigator in seven clinical trials of Rett syndrome. She has also published about clinical care and worked with other scientists to develop a better understanding of Rett syndrome and develop better outcome measures and biomarkers that can be used in treatment trials.