Advocacy
World Narcolepsy Day 2020 Activities Starting Soon!
World Narcolepsy Day 2020 is quickly approaching on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 and Project Sleep has an exciting schedule of activities planned for September. This is the second annual World Narcolepsy Day aiming to raise awareness of narcolepsy on a global scale. I’m a little excited, can you tell? Project Sleep’s Schedule of Activities While international…
Read MoreSpecial Online Event: Presenting My Narcolepsy Story & Book Reading
Join me for a very special FREE ONLINE EVENT! This Sunday, May 10th at 8:00 p.m. EDT, tune in to Project Sleep’s Facebook Page to hear my inspiring narcolepsy presentation and to read a few favorite passages from my memoir. Full details about the broadcast. I’ve presented this around the world in Italy, Ireland, Sweden,…
Read MoreThe Power of Community: Supporting One Young Man with Narcolepsy Lifts Us All
These are unprecedented times in the wake of COVID-19. I am sending virtual hugs, healthy vibes and restful nights to each of you. During a time when things feel pretty heavy, I wanted to share a heart-lifting story from my past week. Background: In late February/early March, Project Sleep (in conjunction with the Sleep Research Society)…
Read MoreA Moment I’ll Cherish Forever: Meeting my Representative Adam Schiff
On Tuesday, Feb. 10th, I had the opportunity to meet my Representative, Congressman Adam Schiff and thank him in-person for championing the sleep community priorities in Congress for the past three years. I was in Washington, DC for Project Sleep and the Sleep Research Society’s February Hill Day on Monday, Feb. 9th. See our event…
Read MoreExciting News! Giving a TEDx Talk in San Diego
SO beyond excited to share this news: I’ll speak at TEDxSDSU on March 22, 2020 in San Diego, CA! Giving a TEDx talk has been a major life goal for about 7 years now, when i put it in my art journal as one of my major aspirations. And I’ve applied to many over the…
Read MoreYou’re Invited! Join Me for Project Sleep’s New Year’s Celebration
Tune in this Saturday, Dec. 28th, 2019 at 12:00 noon ET for a very special New Year’s Facebook LIVE—celebrating your amazing 2019 and looking ahead with a sneak peek of 2020! On behalf of Project Sleep’s leadership, I will broadcast live from Los Angeles to Project Sleep’s Facebook page this Saturday, Dec. 28th at 12noon ET. You…
Read More“I will change how I treat my patients because of your talk.”
Last month, I gave one of my favorite presentations at the 10th Biennial Pediatric Sleep Medicine Conference hosted by my alma mater, Brown University. My “TED-style talk” had two key messages: Prescribing social support to people with narcolepsy, Partnering with patients, patient leaders and organizations to develop patient-centered research toward recognizing and addressing stigma. I’d spent…
Read MoreListen Now: Social Experience of Narcolepsy on Sleep Junkies Podcast
“I remember keeping [my narcolepsy] private and always feeling like it was this thing sitting at the back of my throat that I wanted to share, but just stopping myself, remembering ‘you’ll get a bad reaction, this person won’t understand.’” – Julie Flygare, Sleep Junkies podcast “So you went from something being a secret to the…
Read MoreCelebrating 20 Years of Hypocretin/Orexin: Narcolepsy’s Big Breakthrough
LET’S PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999: Twenty years ago today, a dog named Kahlua was on the cover of the journal Cell. Kahlua was a doberman pinscher with canine narcolepsy and an important piece of history. Today marks 20 years since Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, and his team at Stanford University published their key paper…
Read MoreListen Now: New Interview on Wake Up Narcolepsy’s Narcolepsy 360 Podcast
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Claire Crisp, Executive Director of Wake Up Narcolepsy (WUN), to record an interview for WUN’s Narcolepsy 360 podcast. This was a meaningful experience and a lot fun to share this conversation with Claire, who is an amazing leader, advocate and friend in the narcolepsy…
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