Maria Picone

Maria Picone is the Co-Founder of a digital health analytics company that she started together with her husband, Chris, after their child was born with a rare disease called Prader-Willi syndrome. The mission of TREND is to inspire solutions that accelerate treatment discovery and improve the quality of life for people living with rare and underserved diseases. They’ve developed analytics technology that analyzes social media conversations to understand diseases from patient and caregiver perspectives. To learn more about TREND, visit www.trend.community.

Who is your hero?
My daughter is my hero. She is brave and determined beyond her years. Despite the many challenges that she faces daily, she is one of the most empathetic and caring people I know.

Where is your favourite place in the world?
Italy. I studied there in college and life was carefree.

What is your greatest achievement?
Aside from my 3 beautiful children, my company is my greatest achievement. The work that we have done has without a doubt changed the course of my daughter’s life for the better. I am so proud to have built a company that each and everyday is making life a little better for someone living with rare disease.

What is your wish for the future of rare disease?
Of course the ultimate wish is a cure for each and everyone, but more realistically my wish is to better understand them so that we can find treatments and ultimately cures.