When we get sick or face a new challenge in our lives, we often feel alone, but we shouldn’t. There are people who have been in the same situation and are eager to help if they only knew how to find us. That’s one of my core beliefs, based on the fieldwork and research I’ve […]
rare diseases
Unrest
The film “Unrest” will debut on Independent Lens this week (check your local listings — in the DC area it will air on Jan. 12 at 10:30pm on WETA). I couldn’t wait and bought my own digital copy on Amazon. Let me just say: It’s no surprise that it’s on the short list for an Academy […]
“They come from the same community”
I often share links on Twitter, but without the context I’d love to give to each one. A few recent stories of the power of peer connection around health and well-being: Washington Post: Butterfly babies : A rare disease makes these young girls’ skin break and peel at the slightest touch, like a butterfly’s wings As […]
Champions of Change
Nine Precision Medicine “Champions of Change” were honored at a White House event on Wednesday, July 8. I count everyone in that picture as a community colleague — and some as dear friends. My role at the event was to moderate a discussion with four of the Champions: Amy Gleason, Anish Sebastian, Hugo Campos, and Howard Look. […]
Rare Disease Day
Today is Rare Disease Day, when we honor the millions of people who teach us what it’s like to live at the edges of the known world of medicine.
The boy with a thorn in his joints (and the mom who turned over every rock)
When I was writing the Pew Research report, “Peer-to-peer Healthcare,” I switched back and forth between numbers and stories, national survey data and notes from my fieldwork among people living with rare conditions. I learned to scan my spreadsheet of rare-disease respondents for women’s names since they seemed to stop at nothing to protect their […]
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