Jordan Gaspore

Two-year-olds are a handful.

They're full of energy and full of laughter.

A lot of work, for sure, but also a source of joy.

The thing about Stetson is, and he doesn't even know this yet, but he may have already saved his mom's life.

A routine medical test that Rachel only took because she was pregnant showed protein in her urine.

That led to further tests, a biopsy, and eventually a phone call delivering a diagnosis.

The call was short, but for Rachel, it changed everything.

Hi, I'm Jordan Gaspore, a member of the University of Southern California's Center for Health Journalism.

This is Targeting the Toughest Diseases, a podcast produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

In this series, we look at some of humanity's most challenging diseases, and how Vertex, a Boston-based biotech company, is using innovative tools, methods, and a unique philosophy to search for treatments and cures.

Today, we're looking at immunoglobulin A nephropathy, more commonly known as IgA nephropathy.

It's a progressive chronic kidney disease that, for too long, was underreported and underresearched.

We'll talk to experts inside and outside of Vertex about the latest work being done in this field.

But first, back to Rachel's story.

At the age of 30, Rachel Benton was living a great life.

She was a licensed mortgage broker running her own agency.

She owned her own house, and that fall, she decided to throw a big Halloween party.

A year later, they got married, and shortly after that, Rachel got pregnant.

During her pregnancy, Rachel had regular medical checkups, including routine urine tests.

the doctor told her she wasn't facing any immediate risk, so they agreed to put that result aside, focus on having a healthy baby, and that they would investigate further once the baby was born.