Sonia & Eric's Story

Read the compelling story of Sonia and her husband, Eric, as they change career paths to become researchers and race to find a cure for prion disease, which runs in a genetic form in Sonia's family.

To watch Sonia and Eric's presentation at our 2016 Family Workshop, click here or on the PLAY button above.

Click here to watch "Making a Difference: My Story and My Mission," a short film featuring Sonia Vallabh & Eric Minikel, Amanda Baxley Kalinsky, and Trevor Baierl, from the 2016 Family Conference.

On television

Segment on "CBS Sunday Morning":
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-road-newlyweds-become-research-scientist-to-find-cure-for-wifes-disease/

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In the press

September 27, 2013 edition of The New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-prion-love-story

February 2015 issue of The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/insomnia-that-kills/384841/

February 17, 2016 edition of The Boston Globe:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/02/17/husband-and-wife-race-cure-her-fatal-genetic-disease/SLnmAndVfrq9XO1NnLIgkL/story.html

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At our nation's capital

Sonia participated in a panel discussion, along with President Obama, at the White House Precision Medicine Initiative Summit on February 26, 2016. Moderated by Dr. James Hamblin, of The Atlantic, the panel members discussed the importance of the Precision Medicine Initiative.

Sonia's 
blog entry is here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/02/26/how-typo-my-dna-led-me-white-house, and a video of the panel discussion is here: https://youtu.be/5dpwG8HpPgI.