With Gratitude: Honoring Our 2025 Donors
The Acid Maltase Deficiency Association (AMDA) is deeply grateful to the individuals, families, and organizations who contributed in 2025. Your generosity makes it possible for us to fund research and promote public awareness of Acid Maltase Deficiency, also known as Pompe disease.
New Year’s Resolutions and Hobbies
Are New Year’s resolutions already starting to feel heavy? Lucas explores why we put so much pressure on ourselves, and why breaking a resolution can spiral into guilt. His gentler reset is simple: pivot to a hobby, and if it does not bring you joy, you can stop without feeling bad about it. He also points to research linking hobby engagement with mental health and well-being.
Grief Happens in Rare Disease: Let’s Talk About it Already
Title: Grief Happens in Rare Disease: Let’s Talk About it Already
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2026
Time: 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST
Speaker:
Lisa Keefauver, MSW
Webinar Overview:
Given 100% of us experience loss, multiple times in our lives, means that when we work with humans, we’re working with grievers. That’s why our grief-illiterate culture is deeply problematic, causing so much unnecessary suffering. Based on her professional wisdom as a narrative-therapy trained social worker and her personal insights as a widow and cancer survivor, Keefauver combines metaphor, science, storytelling and humor to help audiences more fully understand the expansiveness and pervasiveness of both the sources and impact of grief in our work and personal lives.
Burnout, Creativity, and Rest
AMDA’s Lucas Garrett shares a thoughtful reflection on burnout and creativity — exploring how stepping back to rest can reignite inspiration and help restore a sense of balance, both in art and everyday life.
Tiffany House and Maryze Schoneveld van der Linde Honored at Sanofi’s Global Rare Impact Awards
Sanofi’s inaugural Global Rare Impact Awards recognized three pioneers in rare disease advocacy, including the AMDA’s late president Tiffany House and IPA board member Maryze Schoneveld van der Linde.
Morgan’s Story: When Hope Met Hurricane Katrina
Editor's NoteIn the early years of Pompe research, access to enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) was extremely limited. Long before FDA approval, a handful of families, physicians, and researchers worked tirelessly to secure treatment for patients diagnosed with Pompe...
Check Back Soon for Upcoming Webinars
We don’t have a webinar scheduled at the moment, but more exciting sessions are on the way! Check back soon for details, or sign up for our newsletter to be notified when new webinars are announced.
Overview of Breathing Muscle Weakness in Neuromuscular Disease (NMD)
Title: Overview of Breathing Muscle Weakness in Neuromuscular Disease (NMD)
Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Time: 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST
Speaker:
Andrea Klein
Webinar Overview:
An introduction to the concepts of breathing and coughing muscle weakness, this presentation highlights the importance of medical self-advocacy to ensure positive outcomes. Topics include the role of muscles in breathing, the relevance of blood gases, the evaluation process, appropriate interventions, and more.
Grief and Rare Disease: Recognizing Loss and Building Grief Literacy
This past May, our hearts broke twice. Within just two weeks, the Pompe community said goodbye to two extraordinary advocates: Maryze Schoneveld van der Linde with the IPA, and our beloved Tiffany House with AMDA/IPA. Their passing illuminated something profound: grief lives everywhere in our community, often in ways we don’t recognize or name.
The parent who mourns the carefree childhood their child will never have. The adult with late-onset Pompe disease who grieves the marathon they’ll never run again. The spouse watching their partner’s strength fade, carrying the weight of tomorrow’s uncertainties. These experiences are real, valid, and profound, yet they often go unacknowledged. We call this grief illiteracy, and it’s time we changed that conversation.
Grief isn’t weakness. It’s love with nowhere to go. It’s hope recalibrating. It’s proof that something mattered deeply to us. When we learn to recognize grief’s many forms and respond with compassion, we create space for authentic healing and build a community where no one has to carry their sorrow alone.
Read the full article to explore the different types of grief, understand how it affects our daily lives, and discover practical ways to build grief literacy in the Pompe community.
Closing the Gaps: Pompe Disease Newborn Screening and the Importance of RUSP Alignment
A Milestone for Pompe Families This SeptemberSeptember is Newborn Screening Awareness Month, a time to celebrate the programs that ensure every baby has a healthy start. This year, there's especially good news for families affected by Pompe disease: on August 18,...
Three Decades of Impact: Celebrating 30 Years of the AMDA
A Legacy of Leadership, Love, and Lifesaving Work in the Pompe Community This August, the Acid Maltase Deficiency Association (AMDA) turns 30. Thirty years of progress. Thirty years of advocacy. Thirty years of showing up for patients and families around the world....
2024 Helen Walker Research Grant Recipient: Dr. Jaymin Upadhyay, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
The winner of the 2024 AMDA Helen Walker Research Grant: Dr. Jaymin Upadhyay, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School Project Title: Implementation of At-Home Functional Biomarker Methods in Patients with Pompe Disease. For the second year in a row, the...
Texas Adds Pompe Disease to Newborn Screening Panel—A Historic Milestone Coinciding with the AMDA’s 30th Anniversary
Great news for the rare disease community—Texas has taken a big step by adding Pompe disease to its newborn screening panel! This major advancement in protecting the health of Texas infants also marks a meaningful moment for the Acid Maltase Deficiency Association...
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Community
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Community During this time of profound loss, the outpouring of love, support, and kindness from our community has been truly overwhelming. The passing of our beloved president, Tiffany, has been deeply felt by all of us at the Acid Maltase...
The Role of Genetic Counselors on the Pompe Disease Care Team
Title: The Role of Genetic Counselors on the Pompe Disease Care Team
Date: Monday, June 9, 2025
Time: 2 PM CT / 3 PM ET
Speaker:
Erin Huggins, MS, CGC
Webinar Overview:
This webinar focuses on a unique type of clinician: the genetic counselor. Genetic counselors are specially trained providers that can have an important role on your care management team. In this webinar, we’ll describe who genetic counselors are, what they do, and how they can help you and your family navigate a diagnosis of Pompe disease. At the end of the webinar, there will be a Q&A session with the speaker, a board-certified genetic counselor with several years of experience in caring for individuals with Pompe disease.
Tiffany Laurel House (1983-2025): A Life of Purpose and Passion
Tiffany Laurel House January 22, 1983 - May 25, 2025 Tiffany L. House, 42, of San Antonio, Texas, passed away on May 25, 2025, after a courageous battle with Pompe disease, a rare and progressive muscle disease. One of the first and most severe symptoms she...
IPA/Erasmus MC Pompe Survey Update Webinar
Title: The Pompe Survey: Past Insights and Future Goals
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Time: 11 AM CT / 12 PM ET
Speakers:
Lauren Dobischok, MSc
Michelle Kruijshaar, PhD
Webinar Overview:
Launched in 2002, the IPA/Erasmus MC Pompe Survey collects information on the impacts of Pompe disease on patient’s lives, and how these impacts may change with treatment. Pompe patients from around the world provide this information through an annual questionnaire. The information collected in the Pompe Survey provides insights on the effect of different treatments and particular issues that Pompe patients may face in daily life. With second-generation ERT entering the market and other novel therapies on the horizon, insights from patients’ perspectives are more relevant than ever. Learn about the history of the Pompe Survey, key findings from the survey, and the continued importance of patient participation in achieving future goals in this webinar.
Evolving Our Understanding of Pompe Disease – Data Driven Insights
Title: Evolving our understanding of Pompe Disease – data driven insights
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Time: 1 PM CT / 2 PM ET
Speaker:
Ryan Colburn
Webinar Overview:
An overview of how NBS enabled significant updates to Pompe epidemiology (Prevalence, etc), and how the strength of this data enables an improved foundation for evolving our understanding of Pompe around the world, and across the full spectrum of disease. We’ll also cover how this foundation relates to other important topics, including some previously covered in this webinar series such as: ABC’s of Pompe, Disease Management in the NBS era, Treatment development, Emerging research, etc.
2025 PCMA Pull for Pompe Fundraiser
The AMDA is excited to announce that the 14th Annual PCMA's Pull for Pompe will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas! The Pull for Pompe clay shooting event is designed for all ages and ability levels. Please...
2025 New Year Letter From AMDA President – Tiffany House
As we enter a new year, the Acid Maltase Deficiency Association (AMDA) wants to thank you for your unwavering support and dedication. Together, we have navigated through challenges and made significant strides for the Pompe community. Your support fuels our commitment...