Shire Announces Award Recipients for Sixth Annual Scholarship for Individuals with ADHD
Shire Announces Award Recipients for Sixth Annual Scholarship for Individuals with ADHD
Lexington, Mass. – July 20, 2016 – For U.S. Audiences Only – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) announces the recipients of its 2016 Michael Yasick ADHD Scholarship. Now in its sixth year, the annual program provides scholarship tuition assistance and coaching services to a group of award recipients in the United States living with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are pursuing higher education at a college/university or vocational/technical school. Fifty-five award recipients have been selected from more than 2,000 applicants across the United States. Since the program’s inception, Shire has awarded a total of 298 scholarships to deserving recipients.
“The Michael Yasick ADHD Scholarship is one of the most important ways Shire provides support to people with ADHD and their caregivers,” said Mark Rus, Head of U.S. Neuroscience Franchise, Shire. “It is an honor for us to partner with these remarkable individuals, and help them pursue their academic goals through tuition assistance and ADHD coaching services."
As a part of the scholarship application process, applicants completed an essay explaining how ADHD has impacted their lives and submitted letters of recommendation. Additional award selection criteria include involvement in community, volunteer, and extracurricular activities.
“Every year, I am impressed with the caliber of the content in the applications that we review, and this year is no exception,” said Michael MacKay, President of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). “We are very fortunate to have so many bright and talented individuals apply for this scholarship program. We applaud Shire’s ongoing commitment to providing much needed support for students with ADHD.”
The Shire ADHD Scholarship includes a $2,000 tuition award and a prepaid year of ADHD coaching services from the Edge Foundation, which includes weekly sessions with trained ADHD coaches. The students set weekly goals and action plans to meet those goals and have e-mail and phone support from their coaches to help keep them on track in their pursuit of higher education. The Edge Foundation is a Seattle-based non-profit organization that offers support for students with ADHD. The Edge Foundation’s primary mission is to provide access to qualified, professional coaches for students with ADHD as part of their multimodal treatment program.
The 2016 Michael Yasick ADHD Scholarship recipients include: Gina Abraczinskas of Pennsylvania, Allison Cohen of Pennsylvania, Christina Condict of Maryland, Karina Conner of Ohio, Tianna Crippen of Pennsylvania, Emma Draper of Virginia, Sydney Jane Gagnon of Pennsylvania, Jacob Hellman of New Jersey, Dana Hodde of Alabama, Megan Holzmeister of Kansas, Emily Jones of New York, Hunter Kennedy of Texas, Aaron Kurkowski of Maryland, Miranda Lightfoot of Missouri, Monica Medrano of Florida, Rachel Moretti of Texas, Victoria Noto of California, Joshua Otto of Illinois, Jay Oxman of New York, Sean Padgett of Virginia, Emma J. Parrish of Georgia, Christine Pittenger of Michigan, Kathryn Poe of Ohio, Chelsea
Polidoro of Pennsylvania, Kendra Rowell of Louisiana, Eric Rupinski of Massachusetts, Thomas Lander Ryan of Kentucky, Lauren Schnepf of New Jersey, Elizabeth Grace Scott of Arkansas, Nathanael Stauffer of Ohio, Hannah Steiss of Ohio, Emma Stotts of Minnesota, Jessica Sushansky of California, Tyrique Townsend of Pennsylvania, Abigail Ann Weber of California, and Hannah Zacharias of Virginia.
Please visit www.ShireADHDscholarship.com/US to learn more about the program.
About ADHD
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a neurobehavioral disorder that manifests as a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development and is inconsistent with developmental level.
ADHD is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. An estimated 11 percent (6.4 million) of US school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD in their lifetime, based on the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health, in which parents were asked if a health care practitioner had ever told them their child had ADD or ADHD. Although many people tend to think of ADHD as a childhood problem, 60% to 85% of children with ADHD may continue to meet the criteria for the disorder during their teenage years. Nearly 50% of children with ADHD may continue to meet the criteria for the disorder in adulthood, based on parent report. The disorder is estimated to affect 4.4 percent of US adults aged 18 to 44 based on results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
When this percentage is extrapolated to the full US population aged 18 and over, approximately 10 million adults are estimated to have ADHD. Drug treatment may not be appropriate for all patients with ADHD.
The specific etiology of ADHD is unknown. The diagnosis is made utilizing criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5®) or International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10). Only a trained health care professional can evaluate and diagnose ADHD.Standard treatments include educational approaches and/or psychological therapies which may include behavioral modification, and/or medication.
For further information please contact:
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Charlie Catalano |
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About Shire
Shire is the leading global biotechnology company focused on serving people with rare diseases and other highly specialized conditions. We strive to develop best-in-class products, many of which are available in more than 100 countries, across core therapeutic areas including Hematology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Gastrointestinal / Internal Medicine / Endocrine and Hereditary Angioedema; a growing franchise in Oncology; and an emerging, innovative pipeline in Ophthalmics.
Our employees come to work every day with a shared mission: to develop and deliver breakthrough therapies for the hundreds of millions of people in the world affected by rare diseases and other high-need conditions, and who lack effective therapies to live their lives to the fullest.