Research

Creating Therapeutics for Rare Diseases

A Carolina student’s passion to give others hope

Dain Ruiz smiling on campus.

A Carolina student’s passion to give others hope

By Angela Harwood

As an elementary school student, Dain Ruiz learned about little jumping genes called transposons. Intrigued by this, a 9-year-old Ruiz imagined all the cures that could be created from this simple biological process.

Now, as a rising sophomore majoring in biology and a Chancellor’s Science Scholar within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, Ruiz studies expansion disorders such as Huntington’s Disease, Friedreich’s Ataxia and Myotonic Dystrophy, to develop therapeutics to treat them.

Read Ruiz’s complete Q&A…Opens in new window

 

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