Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, professor at Yale University, is a sociologist and physician who conducts research in the areas of social networks and biosocial science. He directs the Human Nature Lab.

The author of four books and over 200 articles, Christakis was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and was made a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.

On this episode we are talking to Nicholas about his book, "BLUEPRINT: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society". In Blueprint, he introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide.

He brings some impactful questions related to grief to the table, like: Why do we have this capacity for grief? Why is it helpful for us as humans to have the experience of the emotions around grief?

"Emotions are a very primitive form of communication that far preceded our capacity for language - it's a more sophisticated type of communication."

Thank you for listening!

Learn more about EB and the voices in this episode:

Meet Dr. Nicholas Christakis

Learn more about the book "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society"

EB in depth

Meet the family behind Heroes for Hallie Grace

Donate and Join the Fight

Proudly hosted and produced by Dee Daniels Media

"It's not, obviously, the way we would want to meet, but I'm so grateful that we did" - Anne Davis says this in regard to becoming "chosen family" with Kaytlynn and Anthony - parents of Addilynn Grace - who had severe Junctional EB - and passed away on December 22, 2022.

Katlynn and Anthony include Addilynn in everything they do. They also do so much to raise awareness about Epidermolysis Bullosa. Both families take much needed time in this episode to hold space for the grief journey and share stories about their beautiful "butterfly" children.

Anthony says, "looking back - we were so worried about taking care of her - we didn't realize she was the one taking care of us".

Thank you for listening!

Learn more about EB and the voices in this episode:

EB in depth

Meet the family behind Heroes for Hallie Grace

BUY YOUR TICKETS to the 3rd Annual Butterfly Ball

Donate and Join the Fight

Proudly hosted and produced by Dee Daniels Media

We're grateful to be joined on this episode by Dr. Peter Marinkovich - Associate Professor of Dermatology, a faculty member of the Program in Epithelial Biology and the Stanford Cancer Biology Program.

We're taking a deep-dive into the history - as well as the available treatments and current research - of Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Dr. Marinkovich has an interest in inflammatory skin disease and is Director of the Stanford Bullous Disease and Psoriasis Clinics as well as an attending dermatologist at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center. Dr. Marinkovich’s research focuses on pathogenesis and therapy of epidermolysis bullosa, autoimmune blistering diseases, psoriasis and skin cancer.

Thank you for listening!

Learn more about EB and the voices in this episode:

EB in depth

Meet Dr. Peter Marinkovich

Meet the family behind Heroes for Hallie Grace

BUY YOUR TICKETS to the 3rd Annual Butterfly Ball

Donate and Join the Fight

Proudly hosted and produced by Dee Daniels Media