{"title":"Maria J Kefalas","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"harnessing-grief-book-maria-j-kefalas-9780807055472","title":"Harnessing Grief","description":"In 2012, Maria Kefalas's life took a dramatic turn when her youngest child, Calliope, was diagnosed with an ultra-rare neurological disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). Doctors predicted that Cal might only live a few years, and Maria was consumed with rage and grief. Her son suggested they start selling cupcakes to find a cure for Cal's disease, and the family embraced the idea and have now sold more than 45,000 cupcakes and raised over $800,000. On the one year anniversary of Cal's diagnosis, Maria learned about a groundbreaking gene therapy in Milan, Italy. But tragically, the breakthrough came too late to cure Cal, who is now ten.Even though Maria has been in a state of anticipatory grief for years, she has come to realize that the only way to save yourself is to find a way to help others. She harnessed what she calls the superpower of grief to help other children and families get a chance at a miracle. This patient advocacy led her to co-found The Calliope Joy Foundation and Cure MLD. Her journey has taken her to the halls of Congress, C-suites with biotech executives, and the FDA. Today, she works with families around the world to get them access to treatment and raise awareness of the promise of gene therapy.Harnessing Grief will hearten listeners as they experience Maria come to find hope and purpose amidst the most tragic of circumstances. All the author's royalties for this book will be donated to the Cal's Cupcakes Foundation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49743276310801,"sku":"NGR9780807055472","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50366334173457,"sku":"CIN0807055476G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53370768556305,"sku":"CIN0807055476VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0807055476.jpg?v=1751107439"},{"product_id":"hollowing-out-the-middle-book-maria-j-kefalas-9780807041710","title":"Hollowing Out the Middle","description":"How tiny variations in our personal DNA can determine how we look, how we behave, how we get sick, and how we get well.News stories report almost daily on the remarkable progress scientists are making in unraveling the genetic basis of disease and behavior. Meanwhile, new technologies are rapidly reducing the cost of reading someone's personal DNA (all six billion letters of it). Within the next ten years, hospitals may present parents with their newborn's complete DNA code along with her footprints and APGAR score. In Genetic Twists of Fate, distinguished geneticists Stanley Fields and Mark Johnston help us make sense of the genetic revolution that is upon us.Fields and Johnston tell real life stories that hinge on the inheritance of one tiny change rather than another in an individual's DNA: a mother wrongly accused of poisoning her young son when the true killer was a genetic disorder; the screen siren who could no longer remember her lines because of Alzheimer's disease; and the president who was treated with rat poison to prevent another heart attack. In an engaging and accessible style, Fields and Johnston explain what our personal DNA code is, how a few differences in its long list of DNA letters makes each of us unique, and how that code influences our appearance, our behavior, and our risk for such common diseases as diabetes or cancer.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49781337719057,"sku":"CIN0807041718G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53175383621905,"sku":"CIN0807041718VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0807041718.jpg?v=1751330089"},{"product_id":"hollowing-out-the-middle-book-maria-j-kefalas-9780807042380","title":"Hollowing Out the Middle","description":"In 2001, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, sociologists Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas moved to Iowa to understand the rural brain drain and the exodus of young people from America's countryside. They met and followed working-class stayers; ambitious and college-bound achievers; seekers, who head off to war to see what the world beyond offers; and returners, who eventually circle back to their hometowns. What surprised them most was that adults in the community were playing a pivotal part in the town's decline by pushing the best and brightest young people to leave. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a timely, new afterword, Carr and Kefalas address the question so what can be done to save our communities? They profile the efforts of dedicated community leaders actively resisting the hollowing out of Middle America. These individuals have creatively engaged small town youth--stayers and returners, seekers and achievers--and have implemented a variety of programs to combat the rural brain drain. These stories of civic engagement will certainly inspire and encourage readers struggling to defend their communities.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50942551785745,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50942552932625,"sku":"CIN0807042382VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51839126405393,"sku":"CIN0807042382G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0807042382.jpg?v=1751232974"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-maria-j-kefalas.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}