Rachel Benton is a loving mother to an adorable 2-year-old boy named Stetson. Stetson doesn’t know it, but he may have already saved his mom’s life. A routine medical checkup, that Rachel only had because she was pregnant, showed protein in her urine. That discovery led to a biopsy and ultimately a diagnosis of IgA nephropathy – a serious kidney disease.

With patients like Rachel in mind, the research team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals is working on new approaches to address IgA nephropathy.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

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Featured guests:

Rachel Benton is a young mother who lives with IgA nephropathy.

Dr. Jonathan Barratt leads the Renal Research Group within the College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester.

Mark Bunnage is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Research at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Dr Manish Maski is a board-certified nephrologist and helps lead Vertex’s research into IgA nephropathy in Boston.

Read more about Vertex's commitment to targeting kidney disease

John Killian’s son was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) as a toddler. Until recently, children with DMD were not expected to live beyond their teens. The disease weakens the body's muscles and cognitive functions, which can lead to premature death. John’s son is now college-bound, thanks to the help of medical advancements that target the symptoms of the disease. Geneticist Dr. Alison McVie-Wylie and the research team at Vertex hope to move past only treating the symptoms of DMD by addressing the disease at its root cause.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Featured guests:

John Killian is the proud father of Sam Killian, who lives with DMD.

Mena Scavina is a Neurologist and Clinical Director at Nemours Children's Health and a Clinical Care Team Advisor at Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

Jon Rey-Hastie is the Co-Founder of Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance

Dr. David Altshuler is the Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Alison McVie-Wylie is a Vice President leading the Duchenne muscular dystrophy research team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Read more about Vertex's approach to targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Damian Sanchez, (Damian J to music fans) is a Miami-based jazz musician. A car accident landed him in the hospital with multiple fractures to his leg. Once there, he faced the difficult decision of whether or not to take the pain medication that was offered to him. With patients like Damian in mind, Dr. Paul Negulescu and the research team at Vertex are thinking differently about pain – they’re investigating potential non-opioid based treatment options that aim to target pain differently.

Produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Featured guests:

Damian Sanchez is a Miami based jazz musician. He is the founder of the Damian J Foundation.

Norm Buckley is the Scientific Director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care at McMaster University.

David Altshuler is the Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Paul Negulescu is a renowned cystic fibrosis researcher and now the Senior Vice President leading the team researching pain at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Read more about Vertex's approach to targeting pain at VRTX.com