A Mother's Race to Find a Treatment for Her Daughter's Ultra-Rare Condition

When Amber Olsen’s daughter Willow was diagnosed in 2016 with an ultra-rare lysosomal storage disorder known as multiple sulfatase deficiency, the diagnosis was grim. There is no treatment for the disease and most children with the condition don’t live past the age of 10. Unlike other lysosomal storage disorders that have been treated with enzyme replacement therapies, MSD involves a lack of multiple enzymes. It also includes significant central nervous system involvement that makes delivery of therapies that much more challenging. We spoke to Olsen about MSD, the United MSD Foundation she founded to drive research toward treatments, and how she enlisted one researcher to pursue a potential gene therapy.