What About Khemissa?
Submitted by: Ellen Burns
Dr. Khemissa Bejaoui will attend the Deater family Reunion this year. Khemissa has worked tirelessly at the Cecil B. Day Laboratory for Neuromuscular Research for 12 years, most of that time seeking the cause and cure of HSN 1. Khemissa will present the results of her recent work and collaboration with scientists in California and Japan. She will talk about future plans for research into the disease.
Most of Khemissa’s relatives live in Tunisia. She has “adopted” the Deater family as her American family. She has taken a personal interest in the research. Larry Deater and Ellen Burns, who have worked closely with the researchers at the Day Lab, are proud to count Khemissa as a friend as well as a colleague.
Khemissa has interested scientists around the world in the importance of research into HSN 1. She and her friend Paul have hosted researchers at their home and gained from them commitments to work on the project. She has selflessly shared with other researchers the results of years of her hard work, so others can use the information to advance knowledge about the disease. She believes deeply and passionately in this calling. We are blessed indeed that she is in our “family!”