Belle is a recent graduate of Carroll University, and currently employed by the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Program at Medical College of Wisconsin. Belle was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome at age two, and re-diagnosed with Loeys-Dietz Syndrome at age seven. She had her first open-heart surgery in July of 2017, and has suffered from complex medical-PTSD since then. Despite living with a rare chronic condition, Belle sees herself as a normal twenty-something who enjoys things such as hiking with her dog Elsa, reading, writing, and playing Animal Crossing.

Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS) is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue in the body. The disorder was first observed and described by Dr. Bart Loeys and Dr. Hal Dietz at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2005. Since then, other groups around the world have described additional genetic causes of LDS. Individuals with LDS exhibit a variety of medical features in the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, skin, and gastrointestinal systems.

For more information about Loeys-Dietz Syndrome, please visit https://www.loeysdietz.org/en/medical-information