In the United States, football season is about to get underway. But for rare disease researchers, there is no offseason.
That’s why the nonprofit organization Uplifting Athletes is asking college football players to use their influence and celebrity to draw attention to rare diseases. With football season just around the corner, host Anthony Farina was excited to sit down with Uplifting Athletes’ Executive Director Rob Long on the latest “World of Promise” podcast.
“There are roughly 30 million college football fans in the United States and there are roughly 30 million rare disease patients in the United States,” Long said. “Our job is to make those two overlap and to raise that awareness.”
For Long, the connection to rare disease is personal. An All-American punter at Syracuse University, Rob’s football career was cut short after he was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer. He had to put aside his desire to play in the NFL and then answered the call as a leader in the rare disease community.
Listen to Long tell his story and discuss the work his organization is doing by clicking on the podcast player or searching “World of Promise” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other places where podcasts are available.
