Meet Board Director, Ollie Gardiner

This is the first in a series of interviews of the people who are working on behalf of the members of the XLH Network, Inc., either as officers/directors or as scientific advisors.

Today, I'd like you to meet Oliver (Ollie) Gardiner. He is originally from Oxford, and now resides in London, UK. He is a professional video editor, working in design and website design. He has extensively exhibited work as an artist around the world.

Between his day job and his work for the XLH Network, Ollie's a busy guy (and so are you), so we're keeping the interview brief, with just three questions:

1. How did you get involved with the XLH Network, and then become a member of its Board of Directors? 

XLH is well rooted into our family, inherent in twelve family members spanning through four generations. As I've seen the many faces of XLH, my involvement in the XLH Network stems after finding out that some XLHers may never meet another. As I’ve found my family to be most important as we go through treatment, I could see there was a clear opportunity to help more people connect with one another.

2.  What is your "super power" -- the special skill, knowledge or experience that you bring to the Board?

I think I would prefer to be a superhero like Batman, who doesn't have superpowers per se, but who relies on his intelligence and use of the right tools to get the job done.

3. What XLH-related project are you working on now that you're particularly enthusiastic about?

I'm working with the University of Oxford as lead patient for the XLH community in the UK as they've recently been awarded funding to establish a new study, known as the "Rare UK bone, joint and blood vessel Disease study (RUDy)." With the introduction of new treatments this study will become ever more paramount in our global community. As these are the early stages of the study, stay tuned for more information. 2014 is an exciting year for us all.