Alex was in the prime of her life, a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University, a prolific writer, voracious reader, artist, photographer, runner, and fashionista. She had already launched a successful career as a financial analyst in New York City and had recently moved to Washington, D.C. Alex’s sharp humor and boundless kindness made her unforgettable to all who knew her.

Only weeks before her death, Alex received a formal diagnosis of PANDAS—one she had long suspected. PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections) and PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) are serious, infection-associated neuroimmune disorders that can cause sudden-onset obsessive-compulsive behaviors, anxiety, tics, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms in children and young adults. Alex was elated to finally begin treatment with a leading specialist and planned to use her talent as a writer to spread awareness so that others would not have to suffer as she had. Tragically, she passed away just days before her treatment was to begin.

The Alex Manfull Fund was created in her memory to ensure that no life is ever again cut short or interrupted by PANS or PANDAS. Advancing research, promoting clinician education, raising awareness, and building bridges across disciplines—neurology, psychiatry, immunology, infectious disease, and beyond—are essential to achieving this vision.

Come experience TILT: Stories on the Edge and witness what hope looks like when the script doesn't go as planned.

TILT: Stories on the Edge

Hermosa Beach, CA

Team Members