2025 Dates Coming Soon

Dr. Luis Ortiz is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University and physician in the Sleep Center at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. He joined the medical staff in 2018. He was diagnosed with narcolepsy at age 21.

Dr. Ortiz earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester. He completed his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Charleston Area Medical Center. He also completed a fellowship in pediatric pulmonology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He also completed a fellowship in sleep medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

His clinical interests include narcolepsy, hypersomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, and skeletal dysplasias. His research interests include examining the interaction of sleep disorders on chronic pediatric diseases such bronchopulmonary dysphasia, asthma, and developmental delay. He has worked extensively in creating educational content for people with narcolepsy as well as advocating for patients with rare diseases.

Kelsey Biddle graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. After college, she began working as a clinical research coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry at Brigham & Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals. Here, Kelsey performs cognitive assessments for the Harvard Aging Brain Study, and investigates the neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease with Dr. Nancy Donovan, a geriatric psychiatrist. Kelsey was diagnosed with Narcolepsy Type 1 (Narcolepsy with Cataplexy) in January of 2018 at the age of 22 after six weeks of symptoms.  As a neuroscience major and daughter of an immunotherapy-focused physician-scientist, she was in the “right place at the right time” to be the first human subject in a novel immunotherapy intervention trial for new onset Narcolepsy.  Kelsey decided to share her personal story to raise awareness about this misunderstood autoimmune neurologic disorder, and prove to herself and others that one can overcome adversity and setbacks and adapt in a positive way. She aspires to a career in neuropsychiatry & healthcare and hopes to contribute to the advance of knowledge and innovative treatments in the field of neuropsychiatry. As a board member, she hopes to foster research and research funding on Narcolepsy to help develop better treatments and to use her personal experience and background in neuroscience to help other PWNs and their loved ones develop their own coping skills to help get them through the tough times and foster a life of purpose and fulfillment.