Center for Down Syndrome

The Center for Down Syndrome at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health helps each child with Down syndrome reach his or her full potential and function as independently as possible in all aspects of school and family life. Stanford Children's is one of the few children’s hospitals in the nation to offer these much-needed services to children.

Patient care

The Center for Down Syndrome is directed by Melanie Manning, MD. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology in the Divisions of Medical Genetics and Cytogenetics at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Dr. Manning is a pediatrician and clinical geneticist. She has years of experience in the care and evaluation of children with disabilities. She has particular interest and expertise in children and adults with chromosome abnormalities.

Our team of specialists includes:

• Clinical geneticists
• Genetic counselors
• Physical therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech-language pathologists
• Clinical nutritionists

We focus on the prevention and early detection of the medical and developmental issues associated with Down syndrome. The staff will work with each child’s primary care physician to provide the coordination necessary for the many services these children need, educate parents so that they can become strong advocates for their children and assist them to locate resources in their community.

Our services

Each patient will receive the following services:

• Comprehensive medical and genetics evaluation
• Comprehensive developmental evaluation
• Referrals as required to other sub-specialists and ancillary services
• Coordinated care for each patient managed by our staff
• Regular and/or continuing follow-up care (to be assessed and coordinated with primary care physicians and families based on individual needs)

To refer a patient, please contact our Referral Center at (800) 995-5724 or fax a referral request form to (650) 721-2884.