Recent Einstein Ph.D. graduate and now postdoctoral fellow in Bryan Jordan’s, Ph.D., lab, Sarah Goebel, joined RFK IDDRC Director Emeritus, Steven Walkley at a recent event held in Lewisboro NY in support of the Salla Treatment And Research (STAR) Foundation. This foundation was founded by a mom, Jessica Foglio, whose young son Ben has an ultra-rare genetic brain disorder known as Salla disease. The Foglio family participated in one of the IDDRC’s IDD Gene Team sessions in 2017 and by 2018 had created this first foundation focused on Salla disease. Earlier this year STAR was awarded a coveted Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative grant to support the foundation’s efforts which made it possible to hire Dr. Goebel as the foundation’s scientific liaison officer. All funds raised at the event went to support STAR’s research program directed at finding a treatment for this presently untreatable and eventually fatal disorder.