Hawken Miller, features writer —

Hawken graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2019. Before joining BioNews, he wrote for the Washington Post’s video game and esports section, Launcher, where he still contributes as a freelancer. Hawken is also a columnist for BioNews, focusing on his experience with Duchenne muscular dystrophy for Muscular Dystrophy News Today. His work has appeared in Dot Esports, The Orange County Register, KTLA 5, and The Sacramento Bee. He won a Webby for virtual reality journalism at USC.

Articles by Hawken Miller

Organizations Rally to Help Ukrainian Rare Disease Patients

A Russian military plane crash near Tetiana Zamorska’s home in Kyiv, Ukraine, was a sign that it was time for her and her family to leave. The treacherous, 34-hour pilgrimage that ultimately brought the group of eight by car to temporary accommodations in neighboring Poland last month was physically and emotionally difficult,…

Rare Disease Day Panel Opens Window to Patient Experience

BioNews, the publisher of this website, hosted a virtual panel discussion on Rare Disease Day 2022, taking a deeper dive into what it’s like to live with a rare disease, including conversations about advocacy, mental health, survivor’s guilt, treatment of minority patients, and more. The Monday event, “A…

Q&A With RARE-X Disease Data Platform Founder, Nicole Boice

The nonprofit RARE-X is creating an easily-accessible, centralized data hub for all rare disease patient data that can help researchers answer questions about existing disorders, discover new ones, and work toward finding treatments. It was spun out of the work that Nicole Boice, founder and chief engagement officer of…

Rare Disease Day Events Bring Awareness, Equity to Patients

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day — the last day of February — has brought together patients, caregivers, family members, friends, and advocates from around the world to raise awareness and improve equity for the more than 7,000 known rare diseases that affect more than 300 million people. In 2022, the…

Young Rapper Hopes to Inspire Others With His New Book

Jacob Thompson began to hear an incessant ticking noise emanating from the engine of his 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He played music to drown it. In doing so, he ignored a looming problem that ultimately put his car out of commission. That’s the metaphor Thompson uses when he describes his…

‘Day Undefined’ Helps Search for Adaptive Products

Liam Dougherty, who has Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), and Katelyn Leader, whose sister has an undiagnosed form of spinocerebellar ataxia, are creating a new website to connect people with all types of disabilities to consumer products that can help them in their daily lives. Day Undefined co-founders Dougherty,…

New Streaming Channel Showcases Rare Disease Films

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of a rare disease film festival originally slated for May, its organizers set out to find a new way to bring the films to an audience.  Co-founders Daniel DeFabio and Bo Bigelow, who are both fathers of children with…