Bill Nye the Science Guy visits Orr lab to champion ataxia research

The legendary science communicator Bill Nye the Science Guy visited LMP professor Harry Orr's laboratory October 4th in his ongoing effort to champion ataxia research.

As a writer for the health and medicine news site STAT put it, Bill is rebranding himself for the time being.  "For now, he’s 'Bill Nye the Ataxia Advocate Guy,' as he aims to bring awareness to a neurological disease that has affected his family for generations."

Nye is working with the Minneapolis-based National Ataxia Foundation (NAF).  He writes on the NAF website:  "The word 'ataxia; comes from Greek; it means 'lack of order. I think of it as 'no-taxi,' no getting around easily. There are many forms of Ataxia. They are degenerative conditions of the nervous system that lead to loss of coordination and muscle control. In my family, our form of Ataxia causes difficulty walking and trouble with fine-motor movements. I am hopeful that by spreading awareness, we can come together to help further research efforts to better understand it."

Nye describes his genealogical-genetic ataxia heritage in a video "Ataxia in My Family."

Orr, the Bob Allison Ataxia Chair in Translational Research, has been a leader in ataxia research for more than three decades.  His accomplishments have earned him many honors and accolades including membership in the National Academy of Medicine (2014) and the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience (2022). His partnership with Baylor College of Medicine's Huda Zoghbi is widely regarded as a model of academic research collaboration. Earlier this year Orr was made Regents Professor, the highest honor the University bestows on its faculty.

There are more than 40 spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) affecting some 15,000 Americans.  Orr and Zoghbi were first to identify the genetic aberration responsible for SCA1.  Nye's family bears the gene for SCA27B, a disease that progresses slowly beginning typically around age 50.

"It was an honor and great fun to have Bill Nye tour our lab," Orr said.  "When you have worked with ataxia families as long as I have, you can really appreciate his willingness to bring his celebrity to the challenge of finding the causes and developing treatments for these terrible diseases."