02/27/2026
World Rare Disease Day Is Allowing A Local Family To Share Their Daughter’s CHD8 Journey + A Call For Research
A local Nashville family is using their voice to shine a light on a diagnosis so rare it affects an estimated one in one million people.
For Michele Falardeau, a pediatric nurse and mother of three, that statistic is not abstract. It’s personal. Her 9-year-old daughter, Sadie Miller, was diagnosed with a CHD8 gene mutation shortly after her second birthday, a discovery that came only after months of uncertainty, dozens of tests, and a mother’s intuition that something wasn’t quite right.
World Rare Disease Day is on Saturday, February 28, and Michele is sharing Sadie’s story in hopes of raising awareness and support for critical clinical research.
Read more
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A local Nashville family is using their voice to shine a light on a diagnosis so rare it affects an estimated one in one million