When Basic Science Intersects With Disease: A Scientist’s Experience

Geneticist Gabrielle Kardon, Ph.D., never thought that she would be explaining her research to patient advocacy groups, but that’s where her science led her and she has not shied away from it. Her work, published in Nature Genetics and highlighted in the New York Times, brought forth a new understanding behind the mechanisms of a common birth defect, congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Since then she has been getting to know the CDH community and advocating for their cause. She explains what they have taught her, how she has helped them, and what basic scientists can get out of developing relationships with patients.