BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The University of Alabama at Birmingham Children's Tourette Clinic is one of 10 medical centers in the United States to be designated a "center of excellence" for the research and education of Tourette syndrome.

The centers will be given up to $50,000 per year for three years to improve care for people living with the disorder, according to a news release this week from the Tourette Syndrome Association.

People living with Tourette syndrome find inconsistencies in the level of care they get, the release said.

This funding and designation will help improve care, advance research and improve public understanding of the disorder.

The clinic is housed at Children's of Alabama and associated with UAB. The designation makes it part of a consortium that includes Emory University School of Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Florida and the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.

Tourette syndrome comes on in childhood and is part of a spectrum of conditions referred more broadly to as Tic Disorders. The association says the conditions can affect both children and adults causing them to make sudden, jerking motions and uncontrollable sounds.

There are effective treatments but no cure, according to the association.

"Today, there is no standard model of care for Tourette's or Tic Disorders," said Annetta Hewko, President of the Tourette Syndrome Association. "Our aim is to partner with the Centers of Excellence to set these standards and increase access to informed, evidence-based treatment, compassionate care and guidance."