Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) Announces First Ever Center of Excellence for Stuttering at St. Louis University at Second Annual Research and Education Conference

Global gathering of physicians, clinicians, researchers, and individuals who stutter convene in California ahead of Stuttering Awareness Month to advance research, treatment, and education for the 80 million people worldwide who stutter

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) concluded its conference this month at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Laguna Niguel, California, where an international coalition of physicians, neuroscientists, speech-language pathologists, and individuals with lived experience gathered for three days of research presentations, clinical training, and community connection.

In advance of Stuttering Awareness Month in October, the conference's centerpiece was the formal unveiling of STARS' first-ever interdisciplinary consensus guidelines on stuttering. These guidelines are the collective product of a structured, multi-round consensus process involving a 35-member global advisory panel spanning psychiatry, neurology, and speech-language pathology. Significantly, the guidelines mark a turning point for a condition long misunderstood: 94% of the expert panel agreed stuttering should be recognized as a heterogeneous, brain-based neuropsychiatric disorder. STARS is now mobilizing to place the guidelines directly into the hands of physicians and allied health professionals worldwide. Attendees traveled from Australia, Europe, South America, Asia, and throughout the United States, thus reflecting the truly international scope of the stuttering research and advocacy community.

• Gerald Maguire, MD, President and Founder of STARS, a physician as well as being someone who stutters, stated: "I thank my STARS colleagues for the vital steps we are taking in advancing treatments for our stuttering community today while we search for the cures of tomorrow."
• The keynote address at the gala was delivered by Arsen Tomsky, CEO of inDrive. A person who stutters, Mr. Tomsky offered his inspiring vision of the future for our global stuttering community: "We don't have to choose between accepting people as they are and helping those who want to become free from stuttering. We need both."
• Rahn Bailey, MD, 2026-2027 President-Elect of the American Psychiatric Association (APA)] spoke of the need for our leading psychiatry healthcare professional organization to devote a renewed focus to stuttering, which he stated was: "A neuropsychiatric condition that has too long be ignored by our greater medical community."
• The gala also featured remarks from Dr. Edward Feser, President of Saint Louis University, who addressed our community announcing a landmark partnership as home to STARS' first-ever Center of Excellence.

Slated to open in early 2027, the interdisciplinary research and treatment center will bring together multiple disciplines of the medical field. Speech-language pathology and neuroscience translational researchers will be headquartered at a leading school of medicine, modeling the interdisciplinary care guidelines called for in the new consensus publication.

STARS' 2026 conference also served as a hub for professional development, having offered CME/CEU-accredited training sessions designed to close a critical gap identified in the consensus process: nearly all surveyed experts (97%+) agreed that physicians and allied health professionals need significantly more formal education on stuttering.

Alongside the clinical and scientific programming, the conference wove in moments for connection, from a formal gala celebrating the stuttering community and its advocates to nature walks that gave physicians, clinicians, and individuals with this condition a chance to build relationships outside the conference hall. The gathering reflected STARS' belief that any progress on stuttering requires not just better science, but a stronger, more connected community.

The conference's timing, just weeks before International Stuttering Awareness Day in October, was deliberate. STARS is using the momentum from the new guidelines, the Saint Louis University Center of Excellence announcement, and this week's global gathering to launch a broader public education push aimed at reducing stigma and improving access to informed healthcare for the millions of individuals and families affected by stuttering.

About STARS
The Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) is the first nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing neuroscience research and therapies to improve the lives of people who stutter. STARS is committed to educating health care professionals to improve access to care for the 80 million individuals worldwide who stutter. Learn more at stutteringresearch.org.

SOURCE Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS)