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New Children's Book and Digital Platform "Joyfully Josie" Aims to Spark Conversations Around Disabilities, Rare Diseases, and Inclusion

Nicole Zeitzer Johnson announced today the release of her debut book, "Joyfully Josie." Designed to help parents and families discuss inclusion in the context of disabilities, this captivating children's book series aims to foster understanding of rare diseases and the experiences of medically complex individuals.


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Podcasts Peter Slavish Podcasts Peter Slavish

CareTalk Podcast: Why Rare Disease Research is SO Important

In the CareTalk episode, “Why Rare Disease Research is So Important” Co-host, David Williams is joined by Nasha Fitter, CEO of FOXG1 Research Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for FOXG1 Syndrome and Vice President of RWE and Ciitizen Platform at Invitae, to shed light on the importance of rare disease research, the challenges it faces, and the promising developments in this field.

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News, News Interviews Peter Slavish News, News Interviews Peter Slavish

San Francisco Business Times: Unlikely Drug Hunters: How two mothers are finding hope in searching for their children’s cures

SF Business Times: Kimberly Nye and Nasha Fitter both founded organizations to seek cures for afflictions suffered by their children. Nasha Fitter didn’t have time. There had to be a better, faster way, she thought — not just for her daughter, but for other people with rare diseases. Fitter tapped her tech and entrepreneurial background to create a nonprofit, the FOXG1 Research Foundation.

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Blog Post Peter Slavish Blog Post Peter Slavish

2022 Impact Report

2022 Research Highlights (see details below)

  • Breakthrough gene therapy results showing rescue of FOXG1 brain structure, behavior, memory and cognition symptoms in animal models

  • Positive results on initial compound drug screens to identify molecules to increase FOXG1 levels; now moving forward to larger screens

  • Never-before understanding of FOXG1 biology uncovered from six FOXG1 patient human cell lines and mouse models 

  • Successful testing of guide RNAs to increase FOXG1 expression with a CRISPRa Cas-9 system

  • Discovered ASO sequences (antisense gene therapy) to modulate FOXG1 expression; testing initiated with Creyon Bio  

  • FOXG1 data package presented to several biotech companies with high interest


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The most personalized medicine: Studying your own child’s rare condition

Article from Spectrum News, the leading site for autism research news. Excerpt:Attracting parents who are also scientists to the cause only turbocharges those efforts. Nasha Fitter, a cofounder of the FOXG1 Research Foundation, a parent-led foundation for research on an autism-linked condition called FOXG1syndrome, could hardly believe it when she stumbled on a 2017 Facebook post by FOXG1 parent Soo-Kyung Lee about a grant she and her husband, Jae Lee, both respected neuroscientists, had secured. “Hold up, you guys are parents and you’re scientists?” she remembers thinking, even before she knew of their expertise and reputation for rigor. The Lees now lead the FOXG1 Center of Excellence at the University at Buffalo in New York State and receive considerable funding from the foundation. FOXG1 families are unfortunate in many ways, Fitter says, “but we’re very fortunate with Soo and Jae.”

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