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Dr. Stephen Hauser was a young resident at Harvard when he met his first patient with multiple sclerosis, a woman with a thriving professional life who’d been completely wiped out by her condition, paralyzed on one side and unable to speak. It was heartbreaking, he recalled. He was struck by how cruel the disease seemed, how it could crush the lives of young patients. He pledged to tackle a disease that at the time had almost no treatment options. (Allday, 4/26)

Michael Wolff spent 18 months undergoing intensive treatment for follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing blood cancer. Despite the strict regimen, he was only getting sicker. Wolff's oncologist didn't understand it and sent the then 54-year-old to Dr. Mrinal Gounder at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Wolff underwent another biopsy. ... Gounder estimated Wolff had two months to live. That was 10 years ago. Now, Wolff is considered cured after technology that he said "seemed like science fiction" was used to find an effective treatment for the rare cancer. (Breen, 4/26)

When a person develops solid tumors in the stomach or esophagus or rectum, oncologists know how to treat them. But the cures often come with severe effects on quality of life. That can include removal of the stomach or bladder, a permanent colostomy bag, radiation that makes patients infertile and lasting damage from chemotherapy. So a research group at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, using a drug from the pharmaceutical company GSK, tried something different. (Kolata, 4/27)

Emily Kramer-Golinkoff can’t get enough oxygen with each breath. Advanced cystic fibrosis makes even simple things like walking or showering arduous and exhausting. She has the most common fatal genetic disease in the U.S., which afflicts 40,000 Americans. But her case is caused by a rare genetic mutation, so medications that work for 90% of people with cystic fibrosis won’t help her. The same dynamic plays out in other genetic conditions. Stunning advances in genetic science have revealed the subtle, insidious culprits behind these brutal diseases and have started paving the way for treatments. (Ungar, 4/26)

Vanellope Hope Wilkins made medical history when she was born with her heart outside of her body in 2017. Described by experts as "one of a kind", Vanellope had three operations to place her heart back in her chest due to an extremely rare condition called ectopia cordis. The hospital where she was born - Glenfield Hospital in Leicester - says it knows of no other case in the UK where the baby has survived. Now seven years old, Vanellope has undergone groundbreaking surgery to reconstruct a protective cage around her heart - using her ribs. (Hawley, 4/22)

Ed McLaughlin, 94, noticed one of his neighbors riding an electric bicycle, and he wanted one, too. Just months after undergoing a hip replacement, McLaughlin got one for himself. “You need to exercise every day,” said McLaughlin, now 96, adding that he prefers cycling to indoor fitness activities. “It’s a lot more interesting to see the wildlife and feel the wind and sun and fresh air.” He said it’s never too late to take up a new hobby. (Page, 4/22)