# @uofnh on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSXY06vjHlY
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37961368-uofnh-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8ed9d7c780.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-17T12:59:21.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** University of New Hampshire (@UofNH) — https://gondola.cc/UofNH

## Caption

"I'm not going to be the one to reap the benefit of studies like this. It's going to be the kid who comes after me, and that is why I do it."

Meet Camryn Berry, a biological sciences Ph.D. candidate from Livermore, Maine. As both a patient and scientist studying fibrous dysplasia – a rare genetic bone disorder – Camryn is turning her lived experience into research that's transforming care for others battling the same condition.

Read more about Camryn's journey in her own words:

💬 Growing up with fibrous dysplasia meant 21 surgeries by the time I was a teenager. I felt like a passenger in my own health care journey – until I was 15 and met Dr. Andrea Burke at the National Institutes of Health. She was the first doctor to look me in the eye and ask if I wanted to learn about the science behind my medication. From that moment on, I knew this is what I had to do.

My academic advisor encouraged me to reach out to Boston Children's Hospital, where I'd been a patient volunteer. My research advisor there wrote back almost immediately and said, "I'd love to make something work for you." He helped me build what I feel like is a very custom Ph.D. focused on being a patient-scientist.

The dissertation year fellowship allowed me to move closer to Boston Children's Hospital, giving me the opportunity to be more hands-on with patient study visits. Meeting so many other people living with this disease has given even more meaning to my research.

I understand that for a lot of these patients, I'm the first person they're meeting with fibrous dysplasia. And I understand the power and the responsibility that holds. 

I'm not going to be the one to reap the benefit of studies like this. It's going to be the kid who comes after me, and that is why I do it.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Camryn! We're so inspired by your commitment to providing better care for the next generation. #DaretoDo

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## Tags

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