EP 126: Patient-led research for ultra-rare disease drug development with Julia Taravella, Executive Director of Rare Trait Hope Fund
March 14, 2024
In this episode, we welcome Julia Taravella, Executive Director of Rare Trait Hope Fund. She founded the organisation 11 years ago when her two children were diagnosed with aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU), an ultra-rare, autosomal recessive, and fatal neurodevelopmental disease. Tune in to learn about her goals for developing a gene therapy cure for the disease, her experiences as a mother raising two children with a terminal illness, and upcoming research developments for AGU.
0:00 Introduction
0:25 Julia’s personal experience with ultra-rare diseases within her family
10:25 The importance of increasing accessibility to genetic testing across populations to learn more about ultra-rare diseases
14:00 The origin story of Rare Trait Hope Fund
23:50 Current research and next steps in developing potential gene therapies for aspartylglucosaminuria
32:20 How best to applykey insights and best practices to improve the approach to ultra-rare disease treatment development
38:30 Next steps for Rare Trait Hope Fund and how people can help with Julia’s mission
44:00 Julia’s advice for families who are advocating for rare disease research and therapy development
46:50 Closing remarks
For more information on Rare Trait Hope Fund, please visit: https://www.raretrait.com/.