College Student Seeking LCH Participants for Survey

Dear Prospective Participant,

My name is Katrina Tormos and I am a candidate for a Bachelor of Science Degree in the Criminology program, with a minor in Biology at the University of La Verne. I am passionate about working with patients who have been diagnosed with a histiocytic immune deficient disorder and their families. My passion for this area of research comes from my own personal experience of enduring the immunity disorder, Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. I am aware of the difficulties that such deficiencies can bring and my hope is to provide agency for those whose life experiences have been impacted with a similar diagnosis.

Currently, there are very few studies that focus on the sociological perspective of histiocytic immune deficient patients, amidst an abundance of studies on biological perspectives regarding the actual disease. By participating in this study you will be making an important contribution to a new body of research. I want to bring awareness about rare immune deficiency diseases in order to allow others to understand the different forms of struggles that patients and their families must face on a daily basis.

I am looking for participants, of any age, who are or have been diagnosed with a histiocytic immune deficient disease. If the patient is under the age of 18, a family member will be asked to participate instead. The interview should take about 45-60 minutes to complete. Your identity and responses will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. Confidentiality will be maintained by means of keeping all information stored in the researcher's personal computer with a secure password. If you have any questions regarding this study, please e-mail me at katrina.tormos@laverne.edu, or my senior thesis advisor, Fatima Suarez, MSc. at fsuarez@laverne.edu. Thank you for your time!

Kind Regards,

Katrina Tormos

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