On Monday 24 November 2025, the Moving Bodies Lab Bridging Fellow Dr. Daniel P. Jones facilitated an international roundtable titled ‘Towards Tourettic Studies: The Future of Tourette Syndrome Research’.
Featuring provocations from Dr. Daniel Whittaker (University of Worcester), Dr. Rena Zito (Elon University), Dr. Diana Beljaars (Swansea University) and Danni Phoenix-Kane (University of Hertfordshire), the event imagined what might be in store for the future of Tourette Syndrome research and discourse.
The event was well attended, with 35 participants tuning in from all across the world, inclusive of clinicians, researchers, educators, service providers, and tourettic community members.
Inspired by Daniel P. Jones’ previous provocation, discussions drew out key themes including but not limited to:
- Difficulties for entry into research spaces for marginalised scholars (notably women and marginalised genders, and tourettic people themselves) in Tourette Syndrome research
- A need to pay close attention to language being used when writing about Tourette Syndrome, in the context of lacking guidelines
- The role of interdisciplinary collaboration in Tourette Syndrome research and the value of dismantling power hierarchies between the medical sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities
- Acknowledging that tourettic experiences are multiple, and must not be homogenised as we move towards more experiential research approaches
- The need for greater intersectionality in Tourette Syndrome scholarship
In conclusion the event called for more nuanced and critically engaged approaches to Tourette Syndrome research, and the discussions were particularly exciting in offering hope for a brighter future of Tourettic studies.
On behalf of the organisers and speakers, we would like to thank everybody for their engagement.
