Ph.D. candidate Christian Maugee attended the 2026 American Academy Neurology conference in Chicago this spring. Maugee was invited by Biogen, a pharmaceutical company, to take the stage with neurologist Dr. Kuo and Bill Nye the Science Guy to help spread awareness about Friedreich’s ataxia, a disease he’s been diagnosed with, that causes nervous system damage, muscle weakness and gait unsteadiness. The conference was composed of approximately 10,000 neurologists from all across the nation.
“It was very interesting to learn that my disease is even rare among neurologists,” Maugee said. “That is, there were still things for them to learn!”
