CDH International welcomes Tessa Harrison to the volunteer team! Tessa is the mother of CDH survivor Cecilia.
Tessa Harrison is the mother of RCDH survivor Cecilia. Tessa grew up just outside of Chicago and most of her beloved family is still there. Today, Tessa resides in Oakland with her husband, Jacob, and baby Cecilia. Tessa is a neuroscientist at UC Berkeley and her research focus is Alzheimer’s disease. She uses MRI and PET scans in healthy older adult volunteers to track the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain. When Tessa was 26 weeks pregnant with her first baby she had an ultrasound that revealed a serious problem. It wasn’t until they saw specialists at UCSF that she and Jacob got the RCDH diagnosis. As scientists, they read everything they could about CDH to prepare for Cecilia’s arrival. Over many visits to UCSF, Tessa and Jacob were given a grim prognosis for their baby. When Cecilia arrived, she had other plans. She astounded everybody and did better than expected from the start! Tessa knows she is blessed to have a CDH survivor, and feels called to support others in the CDH community.
