 Hello, my name is Marie Barry. I'd like to share a really personal story with you. About a dozen years ago I was in Spain on a business trip and I became dramatically ill. I was in pain, I was feverish, I was swollen and I couldn't really think in a straight line. I was so dramatically ill that I thought I'd been bitten by a scorpion or something like it. I sought medical help of course as soon as I got home and over the course of that summer I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, children's syndrome and systemic lupus. Nobody was more stunned than I was. The first few years of my illness were downright scary. I kept thinking that if I was that sick at the very beginning, what would life hold for me in 5 or 10 years? Well, I'm really happy to tell you that things are so much better now. I was really fortunate to be diagnosed in what's called the age of biologics. Biologics are a new class of drug that focus squarely at the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. I'm happy to tell you that I can now more easily do things like driving, walking, just the normal things that I used to take for granted and do so easily are once again easy for me. You know, I'm an optimist by nature. I truly believe in science and technology. And I have a secret weapon in fact. There are over 4,000 researchers at Stanford who focus every day on diseases like mine. I'm convinced that there's an answer there, not only for better treatments of autoimmune diseases like mine, but for a cure. I'm all about the cure. The preceding program is copyrighted by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Please visit us at med.stanford.edu.