My quest to cure prion disease — before it's too late | Sonia Vallabh

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2024

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Biomedical researcher Sonia Vallabh's life was turned upside down when she learned she had the genetic mutation for a rare and fatal illness, prion disease, that could strike at any time. Thirteen years later, her search for a cure has led to new insights about how to catch and prevent disease — and how to honor our grandest, most mysterious inheritance: our brains.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily,
0:10.0	where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.
0:15.0	I'm your host, Elise Hugh.
0:16.7	Today's speaker is biomedical researcher Sonia Valeb.
0:20.6	Sonia's story captivated so many people at TED 2024 because her work has such high stakes.
0:27.0	If I had Prion Disease, I wouldn't get out of bed.
0:30.0	Prion Disease is a currently untreatable neurodegenerative disease that typically strikes in midlife.
0:37.0	It is genetic and in 2011 Sonia learned that she
0:43.3	had inherited the mutation that causes it.
0:43.5	But she didn't take the news lying down.
0:45.5	Instead, she dedicated her life
0:47.5	to searching for a treatment.
0:49.5	It's extraordinary what Sonia did, right, to not only embrace the challenge, go back to school, get the PhD
0:58.7	and do something extraordinary positive for everybody, that was amazing, that was inspiring. And it sort of embodies
1:04.4	brilliance and bravery to me. Sonia's talk and a brief Q&A with Chris
1:08.6	Anderson head of Ted is all coming up right after a short break.
1:13.6	This episode is brought to you by the Global EY Organization.
1:17.3	What does it take to move the needle on the world's toughest problems?
1:21.0	On Better Heroes by EY Ripples, we've scoured the globe for passionate individuals and
1:26.4	visionary organizations who are all in a mission to solve humanity's most urgent challenges. Season 2 of Better Heroes will focus on the topics of financial inclusion
	...

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