If you told me twenty years ago that one day my good friend Geri (Ottaviano) Landman would one day be working to find a cure for an ultra-rare genetic disease, I would not have been surprised. No one would have.  I've known Geri since I was a freshman in high school, and even then it was clear that her purpose on this planet was to practice medicine. Smart, driven, insanely capable, endlessly compassionate -  relentless.  This is exactly the kind of work I always envisioned Geri doing. I just never imagined it being under such tragic circumstances.

Geri (now an accomplished pediatrician) and her husband Zach's 15 month old daughter, Lucy, was recently diagnosed with an ultra-rare and devastating genetic disorder.

"Ultra-rare" meaning  Lucy is one of maybe 50 other patients worldwide.

"Devastating" meaning that their once happy, bright-eyed baby girl would likely never walk, would likely never talk.  

Lucy has two bad copies of a single gene called PGAP3.

There is no treatment.  There is no cure.

But life works in mysterious ways, and Lucy has the incredible luck of having two talented medical professionals as parents. Parents who have done the reading, can understand the research, and are ready to move mountains to give their daughter the best possible shot at a normal life.  With their non-profit, Moonshots For Unicorns, Geri and Zach are working with researchers to develop a gene therapy treatment that will not only treat Lucy, but other children. The mission of the organization will continue beyond Lucy, beyond PGAP3, to fund and research possible therapies and treatments for the thousands of other single gene disorders that exist.

The science is already moving, and moving quickly. The second phase of this project involves the manufacturing and testing of the gene therapy virus for safety and efficacy and it starts in 2023.  

The cost to make it happen? 1.3 Million.

There is no treatment.  There is no cure.  Yet.

Join me in supporting Moonshots For Unicorns on their mission. We're shooting for the moon.

If you want to learn more about the impact of this project, or about Lucy's condition, please visit www.moonshotsforunicorns.org